Govt constitutes parliamentary committee to probe election rigging

ISLAMABAD: The government has announced the formation of “Parliamentary Committee on General Elections 2018” to probe alleged rigging in the general elections.

The committee comprises thirty parliamentarians including 21 members of the National Assembly and nine senators. However, the government is yet to decide who will head the committee.

According to a notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the parliamentary committee will be responsible for finalising the Terms of Reference (ToRs) to initiate probe into allegations of rigging.

Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Amir Dogar, Khalid Magsi, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Amin-ul-Haq, and Tariq Cheema are among the members of the government who are part of the committee.

Furthermore Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Rana Sanaullah will represent the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the committee.

From the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) side, former leader of opposition Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf have been included.

Former chief minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti from the Awami National Party (ANP) and Abdul Wasay of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) are also part of the committee.

In addition, Senators Azam Khan Swati, Mohammad Ali Saif, Sarfraz Bugti, Nauman Wazir, Hidayatullah, Javed Abbasi, Asad Junejo, Usman Kakar, Rehman Malik and Abdul Ghafoor Haidery will also be a part of the committee.

Last month, the government had agreed to form a special committee of the National Assembly to probe allegations of rigging in the July 25 general elections. The decision was taken after both sides took a step back from their stated positions over its composition.

It was also agreed that the committee will have equal representation from the government and the opposition sides and it will be headed by a person to be nominated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.