Alleged poll rigging: No consensus on ToRs of MPs body

ISLAMABAD: The sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee to probe the allegations of rigging in the general elections 2018 Thursday failed to develop consensus on formulation of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) and decided to send the proposed ToRs of government and opposition to the main Parliamentary Committee to finalise the same.

The government representatives in the sub-committee insisted that their proposed ToRs were more comprehensive, which should be accepted while the opposition members insisted on theirs and after both remained stuck to their stances, it was decided to send these to the parliamentary committee for consensus.

The meeting was held with its convener and Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood in the chair was attended by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Sarfraz Bugti, Rana Sanaullah Khan, Syed Naveed Qamar and Hasil Bizanjo here Wednesday at the Parliament House.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Shafqat Mehmood confirmed that no agreement was reached with the opposition on the ToRs. “We believe that our proposed ToRs were more comprehensive and comprehensively covered all the things but no consensus was made so it was decided to refer the proposed ToRs to the main parliamentary committee to make a decision,” he said.

He said the letter has already been sent to the chairman of the parliamentary committee Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak with regard to make a decision on article 225 of the Constitution. He had referred this matter to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar. “But the Speaker suggested to settle this issue in the main parliamentary committee,” he said.

He said with the referring the matter of formulation of the ToRs to the main parliamentary committee, the task of the sub-committee has completed and now the fate of the sub-committee would now be decided by the main parliamentary committee. He said a writ petition has already been filed against the sub-committee.