Congratulation to the expatriate Pakistanis to get voting rights. Great victory for PTI as an over whelming majority of expat Pakistanis are believed to be PTI supporters who will be able to exercise their right to vote in favor of their favorite party. Congrats to a lot of our members of this forum also who wanted to exercise their right to vote.
ECP gives voting rights to overseas Pakistanis
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) has decided to give voting rights to 3.7 million overseas Pakistanis in general elections, Geo News reported.
The recent decision would enable 3.7 million overseas Pakistanis to participate in the general elections.
A high level meeting of the commission held here on Tuesday with EC Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan in the chair.
The meeting decided to give the voting right to the Pakistanis living in other countries and registering their names in the electoral rolls.
The meeting also mulled over mechanism of voting which included postal balloting, setting up polling booths in Pakistani embassies and other options.
The meeting also considered of reserving seats for overseas Pakistanis in the elected assemblies.
I am always confused with the term "Over-seas Pakistani" i hope this step will help removing that confusion.
As per constitution of Pakistan, only Pakistani national can vote, now if i am not wrong here over-whelming majority of Pakistani ( apart from one living in gulf countries) either have nationality of a particular country or are in process to have one... the one who have got the nationality of US for example, need to get a visa to get entry in Pakistan, although by their looks, heritage, language and tradition, they are Pakistanies but by passport they are Americans.. so would these kind of people will be allowed to vote?
Judging from the tone of the article, it refers to Pakistani citizens who are living overseas. The main impact should be on first-generation Pakistani immigrants abroad. or their descendents who have been registered as Pakistani citizens.
Wow, I guess that I'm going to have to now pick a party to vote for.... just to try and break the current rotten system, perhaps PTI.
What Hanibal said. This violates the constitution. Only Pakistani nationals should be allowed to vote. Not all the over-seas Pakistanis.
Oh yes welcome to even more fraud.
The foreign exchange generated by Overseas Pakistani is the lifeline for Pakistan these days! Overseas Pakistanis (from Gulf or other countries) either have Pakistani passports or dual nationalities, which does not in any way make them any lesser Pakistanis! The policy was already flawed, the government wouldnt mind their remittances but when it comes to voting they are not considered Pakistanis.
The ECP has also made a recommendation for allocation of Senate seats for oversees Pakistanis…means we can send someone from GS to represent PA in the Senate. So hurry up guys…start filing your nomination papers NOW…
Its not that complex. All the people who are Pakistani citizens (i.e HAVE PAKISTANI PASSPORT) should be able to vote.
I have Pakistani passport (in in addition to others) but I was unable to vote since last 15+ years because I m not living in Pakistan. Thankfully now I’ll be able to vote
For once Raesani’s comments are valid
“citizen, citizen hota hai, chahay Pakistan main ho ya baher”
I am always confused with the term "Over-seas Pakistani" i hope this step will help removing that confusion.
As per constitution of Pakistan, only Pakistani national can vote, now if i am not wrong here over-whelming majority of Pakistani ( apart from one living in gulf countries) either have nationality of a particular country or are in process to have one... the one who have got the nationality of US for example, need to get a visa to get entry in Pakistan, although by their looks, heritage, language and tradition, they are Pakistanies but by passport they are Americans.. so would these kind of people will be allowed to vote?
Not really, US and Pakistan allow dual nationality. In order for a Pakistani to hold US passport he doesn't have to give up Pakistani passports. Those who give up Pakistani passports in order to visit India require visa to enter Pakistan. There may be other countries who don't allow dual citizenship, in that case they won't have Pakistani passports hence they shouldn't be able to vote.
I am always confused with the term "Over-seas Pakistani" i hope this step will help removing that confusion.
As per constitution of Pakistan, only Pakistani national can vote, now if i am not wrong here over-whelming majority of Pakistani ( apart from one living in gulf countries) either have nationality of a particular country or are in process to have one... the one who have got the nationality of US for example, need to get a visa to get entry in Pakistan, although by their looks, heritage, language and tradition, they are Pakistanies but by passport they are Americans.. so would these kind of people will be allowed to vote?
Well, I guess you are not aware of the dual nationality clause. As for the visa, I think if the dual national were to travel on a pakistani passport, there would not be a visa: I know someone who does that in case of Pakistan, though it is not advisable by the US.
In the long run it will be good for the country, as over seas Pakistanis will feel to be a stake holder/part of the wider Pakistani community.
I agree as no one can force them to cast vote for any specific candidate, They can vote freely, unlike 90% of pakistanis who are forced to vote for someone special.
