Pakistan’s top court ruled on Monday that Senate elections on Wednesday would be held by secret ballot, amid the controversy raging between the government and Opposition parties about allowing open voting to avoid corruption.

Five members of the Supreme Court panel issued a 4-1 ruling on a presidential reference filed in December last year on holding upper house elections by open ballot to avoid using money in voting.

The court held that elections for the upper house of Parliament were held under article 226 of Pakistan’s Constitution, which upholds the confidentiality of ballots.

The top court has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to use the latest technology to stop corrupt practices and said that all institutions must assist the ECP in holding elections.

“It is the responsibility of the ECP to bear the transparency of the elections,” the court ruled.

The court on Thursday ruled out its opinion on the president’s reference to how to vote in Senate elections.

The larger five-member bench is headed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

The federal government has submitted a presidential reference for opinion on whether Senate elections will be held under Article 226 of the Constitution or under the 2017 Election Act.

The government has issued a presidential decree, allowing for open voting in Senate elections, but its enforcement is tied to the opinion of the Supreme Court and is now null and void.

Senate elections are scheduled to be held on March 3 and stiff competition is expected between the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf led by Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Opposition parties.

A total of 52 senators from the 104 upper house members will retire on March 11 after completing their six-year term. They will also include four of the eight senators from the former Federal Tribal Territory. Since the territory has been merged with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, they will not be re-elected and the Senate’s strength will shrink to 100.

Senate elections will be held as the country is torn by differences between the government and the Opposition on whether to allow open ballots to avoid the use of money.

The problem stems from the electoral system because senators are elected by the respective provincial DPRDs on the basis of proportional representation. For example, in Balochistan a candidate may only need seven votes to become a senator.

A few days ago, a video emerged showing several members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly allegedly bribed to vote against their Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party in the 2018 elections. Then the Chairman of Tehreek-i-Insaf Pakistan, Khan has expelled about 20 members parliament for voting against the party line.