Voice Of Overseas Pakistanis

DUBAI: Pakistani embassy in Abu Dhabi has started a series of meetings to evolve a voting mechanism for the eligible voters from nearly 1.2 million Pakistanis living across the UAE, Jamil Ahmed Khan, Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE, said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan on February 14 decided to grant voting rights to overseas Pakistanis. The decision will allow 3.7 million Pakistanis living abroad to vote.

The ambassador said that the recommendations of the first meeting at the embassy were forwarded to the government in Islamabad. They will be considered by the Election Commission at its meeting. He said that all political parties have to agree on the mechanism.

There could be early hiccups if polling stations are set up at the missions because voters living in far flung areas might find it difficult to reach the missions, thus more polling stations will be needed across the UAE, Khan said.

If voting is held by postal ballot, the result of several constituencies could be delayed if the ballot is delayed in post, he said.

The third option, he said, was to allocate a separate quota for overseas Pakistanis in the national and provincial assemblies and in the Senate so that overseas Pakistanis could be elected by direct voting. Continue reading »

By Ahmad Ahmadani-The Nation

The Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Muhammad Farooq Sattar is ostensibly hell bent to get blue-eyed appointed against all vacant posts in OPF on priority basis and has desired to initiate the recruitment process, it has reliably been learnt.

Sources privy to the matter informed The Nation that government guru apparently in connivance with Secretary Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis Nadeem Ashraf are all out to initiate a process of recruitment against vacant posts though the financial health of the organization does not permit to put extra burden on it. They were of the opinion that in a bid to meet the agenda, minister has gotten rid of Israr Khan Jamali and Manzoor Ahmad, a BS-21 officer of the Police Group has now been appointed as MD on deputation basis with the recommendations of Farooq Sattar (The Minister) in the OPF that might lead to an economic jerk to the organisation because it is comprised of recruitment against the posts which were advertised in 2010 and interviews were done in last year. Again, the minister is desperate to award a contract worth Rs 42 crore of removing surplus soil from OPF housing Scheme Zone-V, Islamabad without the consent of ‘allotees’ (overseas Pakistanis). Continue reading »

Pakistani Ambassador to the UAE Jamil Ahmed Khan met with community members at the consular section in the embassy here recently to listen to their grievances, if any, regarding document transactions.

During his regular visit to the section, he interacted with people visiting the embassy to renew their passports and national identity cards.

“We are committed towards providing the best possible consular services to the Pakistani community living in the UAE,” said Khan. Continue reading »

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday to review modalities on whether overseas Pakistanis could exercise their right of vote in general elections, analyse the matter in light of the experience of other countries and submit a report to it by February 6. Continue reading »

PAKISTAN has achieved a quantum jump in home remittances by overseas Pakistanis, the amount of which is increasing with the passage of time partly because of global developments and partly because of measures taken by the banking sector to ensure quicker disbursement of the money. But experts point out that the amount could go even double in foreseeable future if the Government addresses the problems confronting the forexbusiness.
Continue reading »

DUBAI : Former prime minister and Pakistan’s largest opposition party president Nawaz Sharif has appointed former ambassador Javed Malik, as his Special Adviser on Foreign Relations and Overseas Pakistani Affairs.

As Adviser to the PML president, Javed Malik will be advising and assisting former prime minister on matters relating to foreign affairs, build goodwill for the country and interact with international media on behalf o the party and its president. Being resident overseas he has also been tasked to reach out to the overseas Pakistanis living around the world and create opportunities for them to work from the PML-N platform. Continue reading »

DUBAI: Member of British Parliament Lord Nazir Ahmed met with former Ambassador and prominent UAE based Pakistani, Javed Malik and UAE based Pakistanis in Dubai to discuss the strategy to challenge the bar imposed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Pakistanis with dual nationality to contest elections.

Lord Nazir Ahmed said that overseas Pakistanis are an asset for Pakistan and in addition to sending billions of dollars in foreign exchange have a lot of skills and talents which could play a significant role in nation building process and any effort to disenfranchise them would greatly discourage them. Continue reading »