All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) on Friday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to look into its decision regarding the right to vote of overseas Pakistanis. The party demanded a revision of the earlier decision which they claim did not do justice to millions of Pakistanis living far from their beloved families. Aasia Ishqaue, central secretary information conveyed this in a statement on the ECP decision a few days back. She said that 4 million overseas Pakistanis will not be able to exercise their right to vote from their country of residence. “Overseas Pakistanis are the backbone of our country’s economy. They are living abroad just to improve the lives of their families and the economic health of the country despite many hurdles. They should be allowed to caste their votes in the next general election in order to choose their favorite political parties and leaders,” she urged. Commenting further she said that ECP’s reason behind the decision was “legal hurdles and the unavailability of an adequate voting mechanism. The government is bound to provide all kinds of legal and technical assistance to ECP so that all Pakistanis, whether residing in the country or abroad, should be able to caste their votes”. She said that the right to vote is a fundamental right of every Pakistani guaranteed by the constitution and no government can snatch this constitutional right from any citizen. Aasia said that ECP’s team had registered 4 million overseas voters spread across 106 countries, raising the hopes of overseas Pakistanis. “If ECP does not reverse its recent decision, it would bring a sense of deprivation among overseas Pakistanis,” she added. She said that the government earns billions of rupees in the form of remittances which is possible only because of these hard working overseas Pakistanis. They deserve to be given the right to cast their votes in the next general election, she said. The APML leader said that the next general election would be crucial for the country because of heightened awareness among the people which would be reflected when they caste their votes.
