Ayaz Sadiq to chair electoral reforms panel

The Parliamentary Committee for Electoral Reforms on Thursday in its maiden meeting unanimously elected Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as its chairman.

The committee also decided to make its terms of reference (TORs) and hold the first working session on Tuesday.

Sadiq said that the committee was left with limited time, stressing that the reforms process would be completed by Aug 13.

The name of the committee chairman was proposed by Syed Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Senator Kamran Murtaza of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

Addressing the committee after his election, Sadiq said that reforms were necessary for elections. However, he admitted that the committee had been formed a little late.

“We have to complete the electoral reforms process before August 13, as time is short,” he said.

He stressed that the reforms were required to be approved by both the houses of parliament – the National Assembly and the Senate – before the end of the tenure of the lower house on Aug 13.

On this occasion, committee member Senator Taj Haider of the PPP drew the attention of the members towards other issues, including the latest census.

“If the census is correct, the elections will be correct,” Haider told the committee.

Sadiq agreed that it was an important responsibility. “We will have a marathon session,” he said.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar told the committee that the parliamentary affairs secretary would participate in every meeting of the committee.

Qamar asked the chair to provide the latest copy of the elections act to the members.

It was also decided in the meeting that the next meeting of the parliamentary committee would be held on Tuesday.