Senate Election
-Decides to hold Senate polls via a show of hands procedure in February
-Plans to file reference under Article 186 for the changes
-Wants review of NFC Award mechanism to increase provincial revenue
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday decided to hold Senate elections through a show of hands procedure rather than a secret ballot.
The federal cabinet has decided to approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan in this regard, where it would file a reference under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan for the changes.
Under the reference, the government would seek a recommendation from the apex court on the matter and proceed under the guidelines for holding the Senate elections through a show of hands process without making any amendments in the constitution.
Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan presented the suggestion before the cabinet meeting while Adviser on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan shed light on the constitutional and political aspects of the move.
Moreover, the federal government has also decided to hold Senate elections in February rather than in March.It is pertinent to mention here that on December 12, it was reported that the Election Commission Pakistan has been reportedly advised to prepare for approaching Senate Pakistan elections as the term for half the senators is set to expire.
Election Commission has started preparing for the elections whose date has not yet been finalized but the soonest possible time can be in February next year, the sources said. It said soon the preparations will be completed.
According to the common practice, elections take place a week before the outgoing senators’ terms end, sources said, adding that even ECP so likes, it can hold the elections even a month before the term-end.
Meanwhile, the federal government will seek to improve the mechanism for funds distribution under the NFC Award in order to hold the provinces accountable for how they spend the money, Information Minister Shibli Faraz announced on Tuesday.
Addressing a post-cabinet meeting press conference in Islamabad, Faraz said the cabinet discussed the merits and demerits of the current NFC Award mechanism, under which funds are provided to provinces according to their population size. It emerged during the discussion that “there is a fundamental gap between the money that the Centre gives to the provinces and the revenues generated by the provinces due to which provincial governments don’t have any incentive to increase their revenues,” he said.
The minister noted that there was no mechanism to decide how the NFC funds would be spent and the money was seen to have been previously used to pay provincial salaries and for personal use such as purchasing cars, etc. The cabinet decided that “we will have to improve this mechanism if we want the money to be spent in the right places,” he told the presser.
