The joint session of the parliament has approved the Election Amendment Bill 2023, granting the caretaker government the authority to implement ongoing economic projects and international agreements.
The upcoming interim government before the next general elections would be in power in next few days as the tenures of the National Assembly, Balochistan, and Sindh provincial assemblies are about to complete on 12th August this year.
Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were dissolved in the month of January this year, but the government did not hold elections for both the provincial assemblies despite the crossing over the constitutional limits.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi presented the electoral reforms-related amendment bill in front of the joint session of Parliament.
According to the proposed bill, the caretaker government is given more authority regarding taking decisions on the matters relating to the economy.
It smells from the amendment the sitting PDM led government wants to prolong the constitutional term of the caretaker setup beyond a maximum of 90 days.
The bill grants the caretaker government powers, including national accountability commission act, inter-governmental privatization act and projects operating under the public private partnership.
Amendments related to electoral reforms state that in case the difference between the votes of rival parties for the seats of the national and provincial assemblies is less than 4000 in a constituency, the counting shall be done again, and the results will be sent immediately to the Election Commission.
Based on the final result, the returning officer and the Election Commission will share the image and share it,” the bill states. According to the bill, the returning officer for the election will have to announce the result by 2 am on polling day, while the deadline for collecting the results has been set by 10 am the next morning. The bill binds National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to provide records of new identity cards. Retired judges will not be included in the Election Tribunal under the new law.
The election bill also gives guidelines regarding the oath-taking of successful candidates, the bill states that “The candidate will be bound to take the oath of the National Assembly or the Senate within 60 days.”
For a technocrat’s seat in the Senate, apart from educational qualifications, 20 years of experience has also been made mandatory.
The bill instructs the Election Commission to publish the details of the polling staff on the website, while a specific priority list of seats for the final results will be provided within three days.
According to the bill, for the national assembly seat, permission has been granted to spend from four million to 10 million rupees on the election campaign, and it has been stated that if there is any disruption in the election due to the actions of electoral staff, action will be taken against the staff.
According to the bill, for a provincial assembly seat, permission has been granted to spend from two million to four million rupees on the election campaign. A candidate can challenge the appointment of polling staff within 10 days.
As per the bill, security personnel will be stationed outside the polling stations, and in emergency situations, they can enter with the permission of the presiding officer. Transgender can contest elections and cast votes.
If a party does not hold inter-party elections within the prescribed time, the party will face a show-cause notice and a penalty.