ARD calls for secret balloting to dispose of no-trust move

The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) on Monday called for secret balloting to dispose of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, fearing the government could stop its lawmakers from coming to the National Assembly on the 'D-day.'
"The government is sceptical about defeating the motion. Therefore, it is our demand that it should be decided through secret balloting," remarked ARD Secretary General Zafar Iqbal Jhagra, while briefing journalists about the meeting decisions.
The meeting formally approved the draft of the charge-sheet to be moved against the premier in the shape of a no-trust motion on August 23. Now, the Joint Draft Committee of the Opposition was to okay the draft shortly.
The NA Speaker is bound to entertain the motion within seven days after its submission by dividing the assembly hall with polling booth for the Treasury on his right and the Opposition on his left.
ARD Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim chaired the meeting. Raja Zafarul Haq, Tehmina Daultana, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Nawabzada Mansoor Ahmad and others attended the meeting.
Replying to a question, Jhagra said that they would like the NA Speaker to allow voting through secret ballot, though the Constitution was silent on the method of disposing of the motion.
He made it clear that the Opposition would not boycott the process in any case, but would advocate for secret balloting.
Without elaborating, the ARD leader maintained that there were clear signals that the government would like its members to stay away from the proceedings on the way, the Speaker takes up the motion. Jharga was of the view that the Opposition shared unanimity that after the Supreme Court's detailed judgement, scrapping the Pakistan Steel Mills' deal, there was no justification for the rulers to remain in power.
"Through the motion, we want to expose the corruption of the rulers before the nation as well as the world," he argued, while defending the ARD's high command's decision of July 2 in London.
The charge-sheet, he explained, would include the privatisation of PSM, Habib Bank, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, poor law and order, military operations in Balochistan and Wana, persistent price-hike and growing unemployment. The ARD secretary general reiterated without hinting at the return date that both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto would be among their party ranks much before the general election.