After successful public rallies in major cities of the country, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) is considering to launch campaign outside Pakistan to win support of overseas Pakistanis who want to cast their vote in general elections. After the Election Commi-ssion of Pakistan (ECP) decision to allow overseas Pakistani to cast their votes, the Party is keen to win the hearts of about 3.5 million eligible expatriate voters.
The sources in PTI told this scribe that a campaign in this connection abroad at early stage would help the Party in gaining more seats as the overseas Pakistanis are more patriotic due to exposure and fading image of the country.
The PTI women wing President Fauzia Kasuri is scheduled to visit France and Italy next month as part of the canvassing move to garner support for the Party, which is equally popular among the overseas Pakistanis, they said. The Party will start a campaign in all countries particularly in UK, US and the Middle Eastern Countries where a huge number of expatriates are living and want to see a prosperous Pakistan as they are remitting billions of dollars every year.
When contacted member CEC and secretary PTI international affairs Dr Humayun Mohmand claimed that eighty percent of the overseas Pakistanis supports the Party, and after a massive campaign, it is clear the PTI will win the overseas voters. "We have more than 80 percent supporters abroad...our campaign will be very successful and we want to build on that this year. We want to reach people wherever they are on the globe and tell them that how far away they are from Pakistan, they still have their chance to vote back home", he added.
The ECP has declared that Pakistanis who possess National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) will be registered to cast their votes in next general elections in Pakistan. According to ECP, the total number of Overseas Pakistanis is 6.7 million, but only 3.7 million, having NICOP would be eligible to vote. It had also said that 1.7 million Pakistanis are living in Saudi Arabia and 1.2 million each in the UK and UAE.
The other countries with large concentration of Pakistanis include United States (0.9 million), Canada (0.3 million), Oman (0.2 million), Kuwait (150,000), Greece (90,000), Germany (78,000), France and Scotland (60,000 each), Denmark (30,000) and Australia (27,000). The debate on whether overseas Pakistanis should be allowed to participate in Pakistan's elections went in favour of PTI after its Chairman Imran Khan moved the Supreme Court; seeking those living abroad should be permitted to vote.
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