KARACHI: Senior PPP leader and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani on Sunday said that the PTI-led government did not consult the Opposition before drafting the amendment bill of the Senate elections, adding that the election ordinance signed by President Arif Alvi is borne out of “malicious intent.”
He was speaking during a press conference in Karachi alongside other PPP leaders, including Senator Sherry Rehman.Â
During the conference, Rabbani said that the PTI-led government did not hold any dialogue with the Opposition regarding the amendment and is making the Senate elections “controversial.”
“The law allows us to challenge this ordinance in court. The cabinet is blind and it seems it cannot read the Constitution,” Rabbani said, according to Geo.tv.Â
Adding to Rabbani’s point, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said that the PTI government has issued ordinances regarding the Senate elections “overnight”, adding that the move is an “attack on the Constitution and the parliament.”
“Why did the government introduce an amendment only one month before the Senate polls? Sherry Rehman questioned, per Geo.tv. “Issuing ordinances overnight in this way is an attack on the Constitution as well as the parliament.”
Govt responds to PPP’s criticism
In response to PPP’s criticism, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said that it was late Benazir Bhutto who had stipulated the idea of open-ballot voting for Senate elections in the Charter of Democracy.
 “Why bringing an end to the ‘horse-trading’ tradition causing the PPP so much pain?” he questioned.Â
President ratifies Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021
President Arif Alvi on Saturday signed the Elections (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 to pave the way for Senate elections to be held via an “open and identifiable ballot”.
According to the Ordinance, changes have been brought to Sections 81, 122 and 185 of the Elections Act, 2017.
The Ordinance will come into effect “at once” and “extend to the whole of Pakistan”.
It has been made subject to a pending opinion by the Supreme Court on a presidential reference in the matter.
