ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has remarked that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will be responsible if any party secures fewer seats in the polls in relation to its seats in the provincial assemblies.
“A political party should get a deserving number of seats in the Senate,” Justice Ijazul Ahsan said while hearing a case today (Wednesday) related to the presidential reference for open voting in the upper House of the parliament.
A five-member bench, chaired by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the case. Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja and the counsel for the Election Commission appeared in the court during the proceeding.
During the hearing, Justice Ijazul Ahsan asserted that the seats in the Senate of any political party should be according to their existing seats in the provincial assemblies. “If a political party wins more seats than its proportion then such an occurrence could destroy the system,” he added.
The ECP counsel told the top court that the meaning of secret voting is that the votes will remain secret. At this, Justice Ijaz said that a vote cannot remain concealed forever. “To keep the votes secret forever is not as per the Constitution,” he added.
The judge asked the counsel as to what proportionate representation actually meant. He noted that the term open voting is used in terms of the National Assembly elections, but the law doesn’t say the same for Senate’s polls.
He further asked how would the electoral authority ensure proportionate representation of political parties in the voting. “It will be ECP’s failure if a party doesn’t win seats as proportionate to their representation in the national provincial assemblies,” he added.
Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till tomorrow (Thursday) when it will hear the point of view of the provinces and political parties.
