LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking voting rights for overseas Pakistanis in the upcoming local government (LG) elections in Punjab.
In the petition, Mohammad Nadeem Yusuf, an overseas Pakistani has requested the Lahore High Court to grant the right to vote in local elections to overseas Pakistanis. The petition has made the federal and provincial governments, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and NADRA as respondents in the case.
The petitioner contended that overseas Pakistanis are present in large numbers in different countries of the world and they have a major role in the country’s economy. He requested that overseas Pakistanis be given the right to vote in the upcoming local elections in Punjab.
It is important to mention that during the regime of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the bill for the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis was approved. However, the current PDM government led by Shehbaz Sharif withdrew this right as soon as it came to power and the National Assembly approved amendment, depriving overseas Pakistanis of their right to vote.
