ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: The dream of giving right to overseas Pakistanis to cast their votes in the coming general election might remain elusive in the absence of an appropriate legislation, the Election Commission of Pakistan told the Supreme Court on Friday.

And the task appears all the more difficult because the National Assembly is completing its five-year constitutional term on March 16.

“There was a consensus in a meeting held in compliance with the Supreme Court order that the right to vote cannot be extended to overseas Pakistanis without bringing amendments to the law,” Advocate Munir Paracha, representing the ECP, told the Supreme Court.

Headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the Supreme Court was hearing a separate plea of PTI chief Imran Khan and one of Chaudhry Nasir Iqbal for giving the right to vote to Pakistanis living abroad.

They have sought directions for the ECP to take necessary steps for providing an opportunity to overseas Pakistanis for casting their votes, including arrangements in consulates and embassies of Pakistan all over the world before the next general election for National and provincial assemblies.

An impression had developed in the last Supreme Court hearing that the cabinet was considering promulgating a law on the subject since the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis had already proposed a legislation.

At the last hearing on Feb 14, the Supreme Court had ordered Attorney General Irfan Qadir to hold a meeting with the authorities concerned, namely Ministries of Law and Overseas Pakistanis, Nadra and the ECP, and consider options for extending the fundamental right to overseas Pakistanis.

Advocate Munir Paracha told the court on Friday that there was consensus in the meeting held at the office of the AG that without a legislation, right of vote could not be extended.

It is not possible to provide ballot papers of 272 constituencies to every Pakistani mission in different cities of the world by converting them into polling stations, Paracha said.

But the court told the counsel to submit the gist of the minutes of the meeting held in the AG office before the court by Feb 27.

On the basis of NICOP (National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis), Pakistan origin cards and identity cards, Nadra has registered four million Overseas Pakistanis but the ministry concerned claims that there are 7.5 million overseas Pakistanis and 5.2 million of them are registered with Nadra.

Earlier the court had suggested a set of proposals for working out the possibility of declaring Pakistani diplomatic missions (embassies and consulates) as polling stations by the ECP where requisite information and data regarding electoral lists and constituency-wise candidates could be made available electronically by the Election Commission, Nadra and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.

After due identification and authentication of citizens living overseas, the proposal suggested, they might be provided the facility to cast their votes either electronically or through ballot papers issued at diplomatic missions.