Sub-panel to finalise guidelines for vote rigging investigation

The special parliamentary committee constituted by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to look into allegations of rigging in the July 25 general elections, has formed a sub-committee headed by Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood to finalise terms of reference (ToR) for it.

The decision to form the subcommittee was taken at the second meeting of the special committee held here with Defence Minister Pervez Khattak as chairman.

Out of 30 members of the special committee, 16 from the government and the opposition attended the meeting.

During the course of discussion, the committee chairman proposed Mahmood as head of the sub-committee, and the members agreed.

The meeting also finalised the names of the subcommittee’s members with consensus.

The government and its coalition partners will be represented in the sub-committee by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Mohamed Ali Saif of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P), and Sarfraz Bugti of the Baluchistan Awami Party.

From the opposition, the names of Rana Sanaullah of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Hasil Bizenjo of the National Party, and Maulana Abdul Wasay of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) have been finalised.

After the meeting, Khattak told reporters that the sub-committee is to complete its task of finalising the ToR in 14 days.