Home TRENDING BABAR, A PPP MEMBER, HAS CALLED FOR MANDATORY VOTING.

BABAR, A PPP MEMBER, HAS CALLED FOR MANDATORY VOTING.

BABAR, A PPP MEMBER, HAS CALLED FOR MANDATORY VOTING.

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In a recent interview with the ISLAMABAD-based news outlet Dawn, former senator Farhatullah Babar voiced his doubts regarding the possibility of holding general elections in the last week of January 2024.

File photo of Senator Farhatullah Babar. PHOTO: ONLINE

Babar, a leader in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), pushed hard to remove the military from electoral and political processes.

He stressed this again during a consultative session in Islamabad on the topic of holding free and fair general elections, hosted by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT).

Legal scholars, legislators, members of civil society, media representatives, and academics were all represented in the roundtable discussion.

They got together to talk about the problems with holding democratic elections in Pakistan and how to fix them.To improve the democratic process, Babar, as president of the PPP’s human rights cell, advocated for the possibility of mandatory voting and the addition of a “None of the Above” (NOTA) option.

The need for election changes was again reiterated, as was the importance of an independent investigation of the events of May 9 and the RTS shortcomings.

Babar also brought out serious issues such minority voter turnout and social media manipulation of election results, especially by official institutions.

Since NADRA data is security-driven and CNICs (Computerised National Identity Cards) are based on citizen requests, he urged for a serious conversation about removing the voting list from the NADRA database.

At the same time, Shoaib Shaheen of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spoke out on the critical concerns of missing people and PTI party workers, highlighting the dwindling trust and faith in the system.

He pointed out that the rising political polarisation was a contributing factor. Shaheen also stressed the importance of allowing Pakistanis living abroad to vote in the upcoming election.

Ex-federal minister and PML-N member Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry stressed the importance of not postponing the election any longer.

He lauded the work of the parliamentary committee tasked with election reform and urged the body to keep moving forward with its reform efforts.

Dr. Chaudhry also brought up ongoing problems, such as election spending, and urged people to act responsibly.

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