NA speaker forms panel to probe rigging charges

24-member committee will have representation of both houses of parliament

ISLAMABAD : Accepting the demand of opposition parties, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday approved formation of a 24-member joint parliamentary committee to probe alleged rigging in the last general elections.

On September 18, the government and opposition had agreed to form a committee on national assembly members to probe the rigging allegations, a day after PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto warned of initiating protests.

Later, Senator Raza Rabbani demanded inclusion of senators in the committee which the government accepted on Thursday.

In a meeting chaired by the National Assembly speaker in which Senate Chairperson Sadiq Sanjrani and members from both houses of parliament also articipated, it was agreed to form the committee.



It was also decided that the total number of members will be 24 in which two-thirds members will be from the National Assembly while one-third members will come from the Senate.

The names would be proposed with respect to the party position in parliament.

Soon after the general elections, the PML-N and the PPP leaders took to various social media platforms to voice reservations over the conduct of elections.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif raised grave concerns over the delay in transmission of results and alleged the party’s representatives were barred from entering polling stations while votes were being counted.

Similarly, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and several party leaders complained of not being provided Form 45 among other irregularities.

Reactions of political leaders became more aggressive after ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob informed the nation the results transmission system (RTS) had collapsed. He also announced ECP would be returning to the traditional method of tabulating results and therefore, there could be a delay in the release of unofficial results.

As the new assembly took oath with PTI in line to form its government in the Centre, opposition parties demanded for the upcoming administration to investigate any foul play in polling and allegations of rigging including the failure of a costly investment like the RTS.