More than 3.7 million Pakistanis living abroad will now be able to vote after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday granted voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. A meeting of the commission, chaired by Ishtiak Ahmed Khan, Secretary of the ECP, decided that the names of overseas Pakistanis will be registered in the electoral rolls. The meeting, according to the daily Dawn website, was also attended by officials of the foreign and law ministries. Participants also discussed the mechanism for voting, including the option of postal balloting and setting up polling booths at Pakistan's embassies. A voting mechanism has yet to be finalized. Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has also congratulated overseas Pakistanis for securing the right to vote. The prime minister said the decision would enable overseas Pakistanis to play their role in the country's politics as they have been doing for the economy by contributing more than $11 billion per year in foreign remittances. The debate on whether overseas Pakistanis should be allowed to participate in Pakistan's elections gained steam after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan moved the Supreme Court, seeking the right to vote for those living abroad.
