national institutions of corruption and malpractices. Nawaz chaired a meeting of the committees which were constituted on Monday in the special sitting of the federal cabinet for working on legislation/ constitutional amendment, if required, for halting horse-trading in the Senate election.
One committee had to work out the draft of legislation, while two other committees were tasked with contacting the leaders of other political parties to muster their support for the cause. Talking to the members of the committee, Nawaz said the PML-N viewed horse-trading as the worst form of rigging that must be stopped for the sake of democracy.
“The PML-N will oppose the practice tooth and nail,” the prime minister added. According to the PM House, the two committees constituted for contacting different political parties … met the prime minister at the PM House Wednesday morning and presented their reports.
The prime minister asked the committees to enhance their contacts with all political parties so that the procedure necessary for stopping horse-trading could be agreed upon before the election, including a constitutional amendment, if required.
Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, Governor KP Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi, Minister of State for IT Ms. Anusha Rahman Ahmad Khan, Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal Khan and Special Assistants to PM Khawaja Zaheer Ahmad and Barrister Zafarullah Khan were present on the occasion.
Sources said the prime minister appreciated the committees’ working and found it encouraging that most of the parties had consensus on eliminating the practice of horse-trading. Interestingly, they support the basic idea but are reluctant to lend their support for the time being under the pretext of ‘technical’ reasons, the sources added. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has enhanced the date for withdrawal from the contest to four days.