ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday appointed Defence Minister Pervez Khattak as the head of the parliamentary committee formed to investigate allegations of rigging in the recently conducted general elections.
The decision came after senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders advised PM Khan against making an opposition member the head of the probe committee.
The ruling party and the opposition will submit names of their representatives to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.
Out of the 24 members, two-thirds will be appointed from the Lower House and one-third from the Upper House with the government and opposition having equal representation.
According to reports, Shireen Mazari, Shafqat Mehmood, Ali Muhammad Khan and Amir Dogar may be included in the committee from the PTI’s side while Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has nominated Tariq Bashir Cheema’s name.
On the other hand, PML-N had earlier put forward the names of Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Rana Sanullah and Rana Tanveer to be included in the committee.
The decision on forming a committee to investigate reported rigging in the July 25 elections was agreed upon between the PTI and opposition parties last week with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi pledging to ensure that opposition and government would have equal representation.