October 16th, 2017: Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) organized a Legal Socialization Seminar on “Elections Act 2017 – Towards a transparent Electoral Process in Pakistan”, at PIPS campus Islamabad. The event was attended by representatives of Civil Society Organizations, Reporters/ Journalists and students of eminent universities of Islamabad. As per the tradition, the program started with the recitation of Holy Quran and National Anthem. Worthy Executive Director (PIPS) Mr. Zafarullah Khan welcomed the participants and introduced the agenda of the seminar, followed by opening remarks by Mr. Darren Nance, Chief Technical Advisor, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pakistan. First key-note Speaker, Hon. Naeema Kishwar, Member National Assembly of Pakistan and a proactive Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms (PCER) shared with the audience the story of the first Parliament Lead Reforms Agenda which resulted in the form of Elections Act, 2017. Mr. Mohsin Abbas Syed, Sr. Consultant, Ministry of Law and Justice was next to speak who presented the salient features of the Act and congratulated the parliament of Pakistan on accepting the arduous challenge of consolidating all Elections Acts and bringing the new Act at par with the most modern Election laws of the world. His session was followed by Civil Society Perspective by Mr.Hassan Nasir Mir Bahar and a presentation on the mechanism for the Conduct of Elections and Resolving Elections’ Disputes by Mr. Quraysh Khan from UNDP. The Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan, Mr. Baber Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, despite a very busy schedule joined the seminar and discussed the Challenges and Opportunities of implementing consolidated Elections Act 2017 at length. Mr. Hafiz Tahir Khalil a senior journalist and member of Parliamentary Reports Association spoke about the role of media in conducting transparent Elections. The seminar ended with an interactive Q&A session.