Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal government Monday set up a 30-member parliamentary committee to probe allegations of rigging in the July 25 general election, according to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat.

Some 30 parliamentarians, 21 from the National Assembly and nine from Senate, are part of the probe committee. The committee includes 15 lawmakers each from the government and the opposition. However, no decision has been made so far as to who will head the committee. The panel is likely to elect its head in its first meeting.

According to the notification, the parliamentary committee will finalise the terms of reference (ToRs) for looking into the allegations of rigging in the general election first. The committee has been tasked with reviewing the allegations and presenting recommendations to ensure further transparency in the election process. The panel will also decide the timeframe to complete the investigation and present its report to both houses of the parliament accordingly.

The members of treasury benches who have been made part of the committee are: Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Dogar, Khalid Magsi, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Ameenul Haq, and Tariq Cheema. Ayaz Sadiq, RanaTanvir Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Rana Sanaullah will represent the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the committee. From the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf have been taken on board, along with Ameer Haider Hoti from the Awami National Party (ANP) and Abdul Wasay from the Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

Senator Azam Khan Swati, Senator Mohammad Ali Saif, Senator Sarfraz Bugti, Senator Nauman Wazir, Senator Hidayatullah, Senator Javed Abbasi, Senator Asad Junejo, Senator Usman Kakar, Senator Rehman Malik and Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haidery are also part of the committee.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser formulated the panel after consultations with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and leaders of the house as well as opposition leaders in Senate and National Assembly, according to the notification. Soon after the July 25 general election, the PML-N and the PPP had expressed reservations over the conduct of polls. Last month, the government and the opposition had agreed to form a committee to probe the rigging allegations.

Published in Daily Times, October 16^th 2018.