ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday has heard the presidential reference to conduct the Senate elections by open balloting.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed remarked, “We can’t say anything whether open balloting in Senate elections will eliminate horse trading or not.”

It is disappointing that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have retracted from the Charter of Democracy agreement, the top judge expressed. Justice Gulzar said that Article 63A of the Constitution is not applicable in Senate elections and that there is no concept of secret voting in Article 59.

Previously, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that the Election Commission of Pakistan will be responsible if any party secures fewer seats in the polls. Justice Ijazul Ahsan stressed that all parties should win seats according to their votes as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja appeared before the apex court. The ECP’s counsel maintained that secret votes can never be revealed.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan said the votes cannot be kept secret forever according to the constitution and the judicial verdicts. The lawyer replied that the Senate elections are held under Article 226 and it is a crime to take picture of the vote. Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that the term of free vote was used for the National Assembly elections but it was deliberately eliminated for the Senate polls.

The SC said, “The ECP can inspect casted votes to end corruption. What will the election commission do if a party secures more seats than its votes? The principle of proportional representation and the entire system will be destroyed by horse-trading.” NNI