ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday chairing a meeting of the sub-committee on emerging technologies in i-voting said the final decision about implementation of the electoral processes would be taken by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

According to a press release, he said the government organisations would facilitate the ECP in executing the reform process in a transparent manner.

President Alvi also called for addressing the reservations, raised by the ECP with regard to amending the electoral laws. He emphasised that vote was a fundamental right of every citizen, and they could not be deprived of their basic right due to the weaknesses of our system.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication (IT&T) Syed Aminul Haq, Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, Secretary Ministry of IT&T Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput, Acting Chairman NADRA Brig (retd) Khalid Latif, DG (IT) ECP Khizer Aziz and other officials of the government.

Addressing the meeting, the president underlined the need for improving the existing electoral laws to enable about 9 million overseas Pakistanis to exercise their right to vote in line with the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He stressed the need for improving communication among the stakeholders concerned to address any misconceptions about i-voting for overseas Pakistanis. Referring to the Elections Act, 2017, Azam Khan Swati informed the meeting that 49 amendments were incorporated in the said Act with the consent of ECP and this time the relevant organisations should also support the ongoing reforms to ensure transparency and credibility of the electoral process.