Overseas Pakistanis can swing up to 186 constituencies out of the total 272 in the National Assembly, therefore overseas votes are material.

A new bill was tabled in National Assembly, on 10th May 2022, to take away Overseas Pakistanis voting right.

We submitted a petition in the Lahore High court and would like all Pakistanis to be part of this by signing this Open letter to safe guard the right of vote.

Open letter to the Honorable Justice of Lahore High Court with regards to the Right to Vote for Overseas Pakistanis

We are penning this open letter to your esteemed office on behalf of all Pakistanis who are residing across the world. This letter is specifically regarding the Right to Vote for Overseas Pakistanis.

Therefore, we wish to make the following humble submissions:

i.               We, the overseas Pakistanis might be residing abroad but our hearts are intertwined with our beloved nation, Pakistan. We work hard and remit our hard-earned money back to Pakistan which in turn boosts the foreign reserves of the country. Apart from the remittances which are sent to Pakistan, we, overseas Pakistanis also defend the integrity and dignity of Pakistan before various forums.

ii.              The lives of the families of the Overseas Pakistanis are impacted by the election process of the country. Moreover, the policies made by the Government do affect the lives of the Overseas Pakistanis be it the relaxation in the remittance or the relationship of the upcoming Government towards an Overseas Pakistani’s country of residence.

iii.             We, the overseas Pakistanis have worked and fought hard for the Right to Vote in the elections which are to be held in Pakistan and due to the valiant efforts of various people and lawyers we were awarded with the said right. Now the matter for the safeguarding of the aforementioned right is pending implementation before your esteemed and Honorable Court, therefore, we request you that justice be dispensed expeditiously and in a clear-cut manner.

iv.             The incumbent Government is hell-bent upon extinguishing our Right to vote. This current Parliament or any other Political Party has no authority whatsoever to rob us of the aforementioned right due to the fact that we are true and patriotic Pakistanis as well. We wish to vote in the upcoming elections; therefore, we need/request your esteemed Court to pass an order for implementation which would safeguard our Right to Vote which was given to us

v.              It is the will of the law that there is no distinction between citizens of Pakistan on account of their territorial presence in terms of Article 17 of the Constitution, thus, the exercise of political right by way of electoral process cannot be denied to us Overseas Pakistanis in terms of Articles 2A, 3 and 5 of the Constitution as well. Resultantly, the right to vote is to be enforced without any distinction of categorization of elections and/or electoral process under a combined reading of Articles 17, 18, 19 and 25 read with Article 51(2) of the Constitution.

vi.            Therefore, we, Overseas Pakistanis cannot and will not have the aforementioned Right to Vote terminated on the whims and wishes of the Parliament or Political Parties as the same would be in violation of the Election Act, the Constitution and the judgments passed by the Superior Courts in this context.

vii.           We, Overseas Pakistanis enjoy the right to participate in election process in terms of Article 17 of the Constitution being dignified citizens of country while residing outside the territory of Pakistan. We cannot be denied right to vote on any grounds.

viii.          Furthermore, apart from the abovementioned relief which has been requested, we further request this esteemed Court that we may also be awarded with the Right to contest elections under Article 62 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

In view of the above, it is requested that your esteemed Court may kindly take into consideration the aforementioned submissions so that the Right to Vote of us Overseas Pakistanis is safeguarded and that we are also provided with an opportunity to contest the elections as well so that we may serve our beloved country.