Fawad Chaudhry, the federal minister of information and broadcasting, announced on Tuesday that the federal cabinet has approved the release of funds for the purchase of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in advance of local government elections in Punjab and Islamabad.
The information minister told that the government will allocate funding to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the purchase of electronic voting machines. The cabinet meeting was held in Islamabad which Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired.
“The Cabinet today approved the procurement of 4000 voting machines for the upcoming local government elections in Islamabad,” he said, adding that EVMs would also be purchased for LG elections in Punjab.
He also stated that ECP had requested electronic voting devices from the Ministry of Science and Technology and that the government was prepared to give funding in this regard.
Fawad Chaudhry about PTI Funding Case:
Regarding the ongoing ECP foreign funding case, Chaudhry Fawad stated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has presented all financial records to the ECP’s scrutiny committee.
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is the only political party with an elaborate system of finance and accounting,” he said, demanding that the PML (N) and PPP inspection committees submit their findings to the Election Commission soon.
Read Also: PTI Provide Wrong Data to ECP About Foreign Funding
He also requested Pakistan’s Election Commission (ECP) to investigate and make public the sources of funding for other political parties.
Omicron Varient:
Fawad Chaudhry, speaking about the rising Omicron cases in the country, stated that NCOC head Asad Umar and Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood informed the federal cabinet on the country’s current Covid-19 situation.
“Omicron instances are on the increase in the country,” Chaudhry said, urging people to follow Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent the Omicron Covid variant from spreading further.
Read Also: Dr. Yasmin Rashid Tests Positive for COVID-19
While discussing vaccinations, he stated that the federal government had spent Rs2 billion on the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines. He also chastised the Sindh administration for gaining popularity through the Covid immunization campaign.
“Sindh failed to purchase a single Covid-19 vaccine,” he said, adding that the government of the country had used the vital subject of public health to score political points.
