Web Desk: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday sought the opinion of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on senate polls under Article 186 of the Constitution.
In the reference, the government seeks guidance of the supreme court about holding the upcoming Senate polls through the open ballot.
The government has also sought opinion of the court if the issue can be decided without amending the constitution and introducing amendment in section 122 (vi) of the Election Act 2017.
On December 15, the federal government decided to hold Senate elections in February and invoke the advisory jurisdiction of the SC on open voting for the polls.
The elections are to be held for 52 seats of the upper house because as many members of the 104-member Senate will retire on March 11.
The proposal to seek the apex court’s opinion under Article 186 of the Constitution was given by Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan.
Briefing the cabinet, he had said if Section 122(6) of the Elections Act, 2017 was amended through an ordinance before the commencement of the election schedule by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the elections to the Senate could be held through open voting instead of secret ballot.