Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Saturday that the government is committed to hold free, fair and transparent elections and appealed to all political parties to identify unregistered voters. The Prime Minister said this in a meeting with National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) Chairman Muhammad Tariq Malik who called on him at Prime Minister's House.
The chairman briefed the Prime Minister about the progress made so far regarding issuance of Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) to the citizen. The Prime Minister appealed to all political parties to help NADRA identify unregistered voters not having CNICs. He said that the political parties should cooperate with the government as CNIC is mandatory for casting votes in the next elections.
He appreciated the efforts of Chairman Nadra who informed him that they have registered 99.5 percent of votes in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, 99 percent in Punjab, 89 percent in Gilgit-Baltistan while 88 percent in Sindh and Fata and only 76 percent in Balochistan.
The Prime Minister said that Nadra should ensure that all registered voters have CNICs before the next elections. He also directed the Chairman Nadra to launch an awareness campaign to persuade people to get CNICs so that they are not disenfranchised. During the briefing, the Prime Minister was informed that 452 national registration centers, 252 mobile registration vans and 70 semi-mobile units are working throughout the country for registering adults in remote and far-flung areas. Special arrangements have been made for registration of women.