Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday dismissed reports claiming the government was considering raising the minimum voting age from 18 to 25, calling the claims “baseless” and part of a disinformation campaign.
In a post on his X account, the minister said citizens had asked if such a move was under consideration. “I want to make it clear that there is no proposal under review, nor is any legislation being introduced to raise the voting age,” he said.
Iqbal emphasized that the government trusted the youth of Pakistan and could not imagine depriving them of their constitutional right to vote. He accused the opposition of spreading false narratives to create controversy and remain politically relevant, saying such tactics were aimed at misleading the public.
Echoing the government’s position, he said no proposal was under consideration and no legislation was being discussed in any joint session of Parliament to raise the voting age.
“The youth of Pakistan are a national asset and fully capable of making informed decisions about the country’s future,” he added while categorically denying the rumours.
The clarification follows the emergence of a letter a day ago written by senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, currently incarcerated in Kot Lakhpat jail, criticizing an alleged proposal to raise the voting age.
The letter was conveyed through their lawyer, Advocate Rana Mudassir Umar, and bore the names of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mahmood-ur-Rasheed, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry and Umar Sarfraz Cheema.
In the letter, the PTI leaders termed the proposal as regressive and compared it to the previously imposed requirement of a bachelor’s degree to contest elections, which was later withdrawn.
They questioned why the voting age should be raised when the legal age for a national identity card, a driving license and marriage was 18, and warned that excluding young voters would weaken rather than strengthen democracy.
