30-member parliamentary panel finalised to probe July 25 poll rigging

Committee, comprising 20 MNAs, 10 senators, has equal representation of treasury, opposition benches

ISLAMABAD: After much deliberation, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has formed a 30-member parliamentary committee to probe alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.

The committee is comprised 10 senators and 20 members of the National Assembly, according to a notification issued by the NA secretariat on Sunday.

The “Parliamentary Committee on the General Elections 2018” has equal representation of treasury and opposition benches. The NA speaker formulated the panel after consultations with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and leaders of the house and opposition leaders of Senate and National Assembly, according to the notification.

The panel has been tasked to prepare TORs before taking action with regards to rigging allegations on the election day. The committee will also decide the timeframe to complete the investigation in and present its report to both houses of the parliament accordingly.



On September 18, the government and the opposition had agreed to form a committee to probe the rigging allegations, a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned of launching a series of protests.

Later, Senator Raza Rabbani called for the inclusion of senators in the committee. The government acceded to this demand.

The government will be represented by Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Azam Swati, Malik Amir Dogar, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Akhtar Mengal, Ameenul Haq, Ghous Bux Mehar, Barrister Saif, Sarfraz Bugti, Noman Wazir Khattak and Hidayatullah.

The opposition members included Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Ameer Haider Hoti, Maulana Abdul Wasay, Javed Ali Abbasi, Asad Khan Junejo, Usman Khan Kakar, Rehman Malik and Abdul Ghafoor Haideri.



Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had named Defence Minister Pervez Khattak as head of the bipartisan parliamentary committee. However, following protest from opposition benches, the matter was postponed.

The committee is likely to elect its head in its first meeting, where opposition is likely to push for the chairmanship of the panel.

Soon after the general election, the PML-N and the PPP leaders expressed reservations over the conduct of elections.

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif criticised the delay in the transmission of results and alleged that his party’s representatives had been barred from entering polling stations during the vote count. PPP Chairman Bilawal and several other party leaders also complained of non-provision of ‘Form 45’, among other irregularities.