ISLAMABAD: The sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms on Tuesday approved a proposal to put the Returning Officer and other elections staff under the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms met here with its convener Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid in the chair.
The committee also approved another proposal to empower the ECP to take action against the staff on misconduct and other charges.
It also proposed to ban allotting political parties’ electoral symbols to individual candidates.
The committee is currently seized with deliberations on proposed reforms in electoral system to ensure free, fair and transparent elections.
Earlier on Monday, the ECP informed the committee that in the absence of a permanent Chief Election Commissioner it cannot give a final opinion on whether the electronic voting machines (EVMs) should be used or not to make the electoral process transparent in future.
Talking to reporters after the sub-committee meeting Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid said the meeting had been informed that the use of EVMs would not alone ensure a perfect and transparent election.
He said about 270,000 EVMs would be required for a general election and each would cost between Rs60,000 and Rs70,000.
He was of the opinion that billions should not be spent on an imperfect system, but said the committee would not make a decision till it received the ECP’s recommendation.
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