Pakistanis in Oman may be allowed to vote soon

Islamabad: Pakistani residents in Oman could soon be able to vote in their country’s elections, after the Supreme Court accepted 16 petitions regarding the right of overseas Pakistanis to vote.

The case – which is to be overseen by three judges – Saqib Nisar, Chief Justice of Pakistan, along with Musheer Alam and Sajjad Shah – will begin on January 10.

About eight million Pakistanis currently live abroad, and should the case receive a positive outcome, overseas Pakistanis could play a hand in deciding their country’s future.

This is not the first time that the issue of non-resident Pakistanis being allowed to vote has been raised: in 2013, former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had previously ruled that elections in the country could not be considered free, fair and impartial unless overseas Pakistani residents were allowed to vote, adding that there was no legal ruling that stopped them from doing so.

Chaudhry had also asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take the necessary measures to ensure that overseas Pakistanis could vote. Despite his efforts however, arrangements could not be made in time for Pakistanis residing abroad to vote in the 2013 election.

In addition, ahead of the 2018 general elections, the ECP had told the government that it would not be possible for Pakistanis living abroad to cast their vote.

Trial forms of allowing overseas Pakistanis to vote, such as postal ballots and televoting, had been previously used by the ECP to test the efficiency and feasibility of overseas Pakistanis being able to vote. These had been carried out in Glasgow, London, Manchester, Bradford, Dubai, Riyadh and New York.