Govt decides to amend constitution for holding Senate polls via open vote

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - The federal government has taken a major step to make Senate polls as fair and transparent as decided to amend constitution for holding Senate polls through open balloting.

According to the sources - despite no decision of the Supreme Court on a presidential reference filed recently to seek guidance whether coming Senate elections can be held through open ballot - the federal government has decided to table a bill in the parliament to amend the constitution for holding the polls through open vote.

The sources also said that the federal cabinet gave green signal of approval for the constitutional amendment, adding that whatever decision of the Supreme Court comes, the constitutional amendment will be brought in the current or next session of the parliament.

It was also reported that the federal cabinet has directed the legal team to prepare a bill for the amendment. After the approval of the cabinet in principle, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has also taken the members of the Assembly into confidence while the legal team has started work on the preparation of the bill.

The sources further maintained that the government would also hold talks with the opposition to make the Senate elections transparent. The PPP and the PML-N have agreed in the Charter of Democracy on open voting in the Senate.