Are electoral reforms needed to fix Pakistan's democracy?

[MenInG]

We are told by the government that these reforms are needed to ensure transparency in the democratic process and level the playing field for all parties.

So is this what is needed to make sure democracy survives in Pakistan or is it just eye candy?

 

[PetroDollars]

no, because much more is needed in the country to fix it.

i would start with an inheritence tax for rich families, so political dynasties dont control pakstistan.

 

[MenInG]

But proportional representation - could that change the way we run our government?

 

[Bewal Express]

no, because much more is needed in the country to fix it.

i would start with an inheritence tax for rich families, so political dynasties dont control pakstistan.

This reform of the voting system is long needed. And you know from the cheeka of the mafia that the reforms will stop the blatant theft of elections. The first past the post is the best method at the moment

 

[Bewal Express]

But proportional representation - could that change the way we run our government?

Too much power to the small parties. We need a Presidential system to stop the tamasha that is parliament

 

[Savak]

Nope. What the country desperately needs is some people to be tortured to the point where they return the countries looted wealth back

 

[ElRaja]

democracy is an excellent system to maintain the status quo and works well in developed countries, most countries which have historically gone from agrarian to industrial, artisanal to corporate have had some elements of centralised control.

whether it be the european industrial revolution under quasi monarchies, south korea under park, chile under pinochet, japan under imperial rule. countries like the usa however, which developed in a decentralised manner have the greatest potential, however are exceptionally rare.

pakistan needs to decide what it wants, the country is a political mish mash of quasi socialist, agrarian, theocratic, martial and landowning aristocratic influences. either the country needs to be directed towards one goal autocratically, or decentralised to the point where localised competition spurs socio-economic growth.

in its current state pakistan will lurch between political parties which look to enact their own reforms and repeal those of their predecessors ad infinitum.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

The change that should happen is to make elections every 4 years, instead of every 5 years. Pakistanis lack patience, and its difficult for parties to finish their term, as the opposition backed by a segment of the public is trying to topple the government. With elections every 4 years hopefully this would not occur.

 

[ChTab]

PTI gears up efforts for electoral reforms

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has sped up the process of introducing electoral reforms in the country, as President Arif Alvi asked the stakeholders on Thursday to prepare a prototype of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the lawmakers.

Simultaneously with the government’s efforts for using new technologies in the next general election, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has constituted a five-member committee to liaise with the opposition parties for the legislation process.

The directions for preparing a prototype for lawmakers, constitution of a parliamentary committee and the government’s intention to hold talks with the opposition has come on the heels of the federal cabinet’s decision to approve two important ordinances this week.

The ordinances, approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, aimed at enabling the polls supervisory body, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECOP), to introduce the EVMs and take measures to allow the overseas Pakistanis to cast their votes.

Despite a losing streak of the PTI in the by-elections in recent months and the continuous resistance from the opposition parties to the use of the EVMs, Alvi has directed for engaging all the parties to garner their support for the use of the machines in the next general elections.

Alvi chaired a meeting of the subcommittee on emerging technologies on i-voting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. He asked the relevant stakeholders to prepare a prototype of the EVMs for presentation to the federal cabinet and members of the National Assembly after Eidul Fitr.

The meeting was attended by IT Minister Amin-ul-Haque, Railways Minister Azam Swati, Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz, IT Secretary Shoaib Siddiqui, acting NADRA Chairman Brig (retd) Khalif Latif, ECP’s Director General IT Khizer Aziz and senior government officials.

Alvi underlined the need for expediting the i-voting process for overseas Pakistanis. He said that he would engage parliamentarians and members of other political parties for getting their support for the introduction of the EVMs in the upcoming general elections.

President Alvi said that modern voting solutions, such as i-voting and the EVMs, would increase accessibility, speed up the processing of results on the polling day and ensure transparency in the general elections.

During the meeting, Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz updated the participants about the progress made so far on developing the EVM prototype. Faraz also expressed the desire to consult the chief election commissioner (CEC) and the ECP members for an early materialisation of the EVMs, biometric verification machines and i-voting systems for the overseas Pakistanis.

On Tuesday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while speaking at the post-cabinet meeting press briefing, revealed that the government’s electoral reforms consisted of four parts – the use of EVMs, introduction of e-voting for the overseas Pakistanis, biometric verification and legislation.

“The EVMs have been developed in the country and the government has unveiled its legislative agenda for the purpose, while work is under way on biometric and e-voting mechanism,” Chaudhry had said, referring to two ordinances passed by the federal cabinet.

In Thursday’s meeting at the Presidency, the acting NADRA chairman assured the president that the authority would provide full support to i-voting system.

Meanwhile, Speaker Qaiser constituted a five-member parliamentary committee to contact the opposition parties in the parliament on the electoral reforms. The committee comprises federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry, Pervez Khattak, Asad Umar, Prime Minister’s Adviser Dr Babar Awan and Special Assistant Malik Amir Dogar.

The committee has been constituted in response to Prime Minister Imran’s letter to the Speaker seeking the establishment of an inter-parliamentary body for electoral reform. The speaker said that the five-member committee will hold talks with opposition for “electoral reforms and eradication of corrupt practices” in elections.

“Reforms are needed to hold transparent elections,” Qaiser said, adding the electoral reforms will strengthen parliamentary system.

He said that every effort is being made to implement electoral reforms before the next general election and the committee will play its full role in building consensus among the parliamentary parties.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2298657/pti-gears-up-efforts-for-electoral-reforms

 

[Bewal Express]

The change that should happen is to make elections every 4 years, instead of every 5 years. Pakistanis lack patience, and its difficult for parties to finish their term, as the opposition backed by a segment of the public is trying to topple the government. With elections every 4 years hopefully this would not occur.

It will lead to even more short termism. We need to move to the Presidential style of govt with a 7 year term for the President and take out the entertainment element out of politics.

 

[MenInG]

4 year term is fine - our people dont have patience for any longer.