Open ballot to allow 'deep state' to exploit lawmakers, SC told.

ISLAMABAD -- Senator Mian Raza Rabbani of the Pakistan Peoples Party on Monday feared that identification through traceable ballot may open opportunities for the 'deep state' to exploit, blackmail or prosecute public representatives on the pretext of corrupt practices.

'I am not casting any aspersion on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), but the deep state may have access to the ballot papers even before the election tribunal. This is the reality of life in our country,' the PPP stalwart argued before a five-judge Supreme Court bench that had taken up a presidential reference seeking open ballot for the Senate elections.

He contended that the identification of voters on ballot papers was also against the command of Article 226 of the Constitution which stated that the elections for the Senate as well as the National Assembly should be held under the Constitution.

Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, a member of the bench, emphasised that allegations of corrupt practices on the part of the members could only be established by the court of law through independent trial.

'In this world, videos are manufactured showing buying and selling of votes,' Senator Rabbani said.

'We live in an imperfect world but not that imperfect since at the end it is justice which prevails always,' Justice Ahsan observed.

'But by the time I reach the courts, my reputation would have been at the boots and I will be on the verge of committing suicide,' Mr Rabbani said, adding that secret ballot was the essence of the Senate elections and that Article 226 of the Constitution did not attract one-man-one-vote concept.

It means strong candidate should come to the elections, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who heads the bench, observed.

This is an occupational hazard, Justice Ahsan remarked.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the argument the PPP counsel propagating was a bit disturbing and against the fundamental principles. What the counsel is traversing, if allowed to be carried on, would encourage the system of defiance of party discipline, Justice Bandial said, adding that democracy did not allow egos to develop and defiance could not override party principles.

One would want to see political parties to be strong since democracy will never take root if individuals become powerful, he observed. 'The civilian supremacy, be it in terms of the bureaucracy or parliament, has receded over the years and this is the reality,' Senator Rabbani said, adding that it was on constant...