Alleged rigging: NA speaker to summon MPs’ body meeting

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar is expected to summon the first meeting of the parliamentary committee to probe the allegations of rigging in the general election, 2018 by the end next week most probably in the first week of November.

The speaker National Assembly had already notified 30-members of the parliamentary committee that equal representation of treasury and opposition benches from both the houses of the Parliament—Senate and National Assembly.

In the first meeting of the parliamentary committee to probe the allegations of the rigging in the general Elections, 2018 was to elect its chairman and the government has decided that Defence Minister Pervez Khattak will lead the committee.

Following the elections, the meetings of the parliamentary committee would be started to finalise the terms of reference for the parliamentary committee. While on the other hand, Senate’s Committee on Interior had also completed 3/4th of the investigations and submits its report in the Senate last month and requested that this report should be shared with the committee.

When contacted Chairman Senate’s Committee on Interior Rehman Malik, who is also member of the Parliamentary Committee on general Elections 2018, said being a chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior he had placed its final report before the Senate covering salient features of achievements of the committee, identification of grey areas, TORs for further probe and recommendations which will serve a purpose of guidelines of newly constituted Parliamentary Commission. “Though he was ready to share the Senate’s committee on Interior report yet the Parliamentary Committee will decide whether it may adopt the report or not,” he said.

Rehman Malik said that the committee recommends that the Parliamentary Commission should ensure a follow up of the already written letter to the prime minister of Pakistan in his capacity as Minister for Interior for constitution of the technical experts committee to probe into RTS failure.

He said that the committee recommends that an independent, transparent and highly professional forensic auditing body of international repute may be hired to conduct investigation of all the above “Grey Areas” under the umbrella of “Areas of Investigations/TORs” already identified by the committee.

He said that the committee recommends to look into whether Nadra and ECP followed PPRA Rules while acquiring products and services for these systems (RTS/RMS) from UNDP, EC-Council.

The Senate’s Committee on Interior report has pointed out the “grey areas” that include the delay in election results, the failure of the RTS housed in Nadra, the forensic audit of voice message circulated on WhatsApp by ECP to POs to stop using RTS, issues related to the ECP’s Result Management System (RMS), the shortage or non-provision of Form 45s, observations of the members on the RTS and RMS, the ouster of polling agents from polling stations, the number of rejected votes, the failure of internet and telephone services in constituencies, the breakdown of the internet server at Nadra headquarters, reservations of parliamentarians such as the posting and transfer of presiding and returning officers, and the recovery of stamped ballot papers from roadsides, dustbins and elsewhere, and so on.

Rehman Malik said that he was shocked that there were almost 4,200 Presiding Officers who did not comply with the orders of ECP to install RTS in their mobile phones and hence the RTS system was deprived communication of results from 4,200 polling stations.

The committee in its report stated that the committee thoroughly investigated the Result Management System (RMS) and observed that the RMS System was launched by ECP in collaboration with UNDP.

The committee in its report stated that the quality and functionality of RMS was certified by a company called Kaulitatem Inc. duly registered in USA, having its office in Lahore. The report stated that Kaulitatem Inc. also issued Certificate of Security (although not signed by anyone from Kaulitatem Inc.) claimed to have been tested by EC-Council, another company based in USA with one of the offices in Hyderabad (India).

In report Rehman Malik expressed that it was matter of concern that the company namely Kualitatem Inc., in collaboration with UNDP, failed to inform in advance that the testing of the security of the system would be done by EC-Council that have an office in a hostile country - India (Hyderabad). In other word it was mis-declaration of verification of Kualitatem Inc., in collaboration with UNDP.

Malik questioned about the role of Ministry of IT played in RMS Software and said that the relationship between UNDP and Kualitatem Inc. and EC- Council need to be investigated.

The committee has sought report from ECP for Verification of total number of ballot papers printed constituency-wise and their distribution to the ECP Staff. He added that ECP was also requested to indicate as to how many ballot papers were used on the elections day and how many were remained unused and how their safe custody was ensured by ECP Staff.

He said that to further enlarge the scope of investigation, it is proposed by the committee that further verification can only be done when the real picture will emerge on the basis of the complaints and its verification of alleged rigging constituency-wise and after its proper scrutiny as per the complaints made by political parties.