Rigging Probe: Parliamentary committee to meet today

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary committee having mandate to probe into alleged rigging in 2018 General Elections, to hold its second meeting in the Parliament House on Friday (today), ARY NEWS reported.

The committee meeting with Defence Minister Pervez Khattak in the chair, will finalize the terms of reference (TORs) for probe into rigging allegations, leveled by the opposition parties. The meeting will also discuss the matter of forming a sub-committee into the matter.

It may be recalled that, on November 7, a 30-member parliamentary committee unanimously elected Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak to chair the committee formed to probe into the alleged rigging in 2018 General Polls.

Pervez Khattak’s name for chairperson was proposed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member Naveed Qamar, a role which the federal minister assumed immediately, as no objections were raised against his nomination.

Earlier on October 15, the government announced the formation of “Parliamentary Committee on General Elections 2018” to probe alleged rigging in the general elections after hue and cry of the opposition.

The committee comprises thirty parliamentarians including 21 members from the National Assembly and nine from the Senate. 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 in the committee.

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

Former leader of opposition Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervez Ashraf represent the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in the probe body.