Govt forms parliamentary committee to probe rigging allegations

ISLAMABAD: The federal government Monday constituted a 30-member parliamentary committee, as demanded by the opposition parties to probe alleged rigging during the July 25 polls

According to a notification issued by the National Assembly speaker, the committee will review allegations of irregularities in the general election and present recommendations for ensuring further transparency in the election process.

The committee includes 15 lawmakers each from the government and opposition parties.

Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Azam Swati and Amir Dogar have been included in the parliamentary committee, according to the notification. Moreover, Khalid Magsi, Akhtar Mengal, Ameenul Haq and Ghous Bakhsh Mehr will also be part of the committee.

From opposition, Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanveer, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Khursheed Shah, Naveed Qamar and Ameer Haider Hoti have been included in the committee, besides Maulana Abdul Wasay, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Mohammad Ali Saif, Sarfraz Bugti, Nauman Wazir, Hidayatullah, Javed Abbasi, Asad Junejo, Usman Kakar and Rehman Malik.

Last month, the government and opposition parties had agreed on the formation of the committee to probe alleged rigging of July 25 polls and a resolution was passed in the National Assembly in this regard.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan had presented the resolution for the formation of the committee, which was then passed by the assembly.