MPs body on rigging allegations makes no headway

ISLAMABAD: As the opposition and the ruling party observed the first anniversary of the 2018 general elections in their own ways on Thursday, a bipartisan parliamentary committee constituted to look into the allegation of rigging in the electoral exercise has not moved even an inch to dispose of its assignment.

The 30-member forum has not yet even formulated its terms of reference (ToRs), and there are no prospects that it will move forward to take up its task. During the first nine months of its existence, the body has held only two cursory meetings, which did not transact any worthwhile business. It was embroiled in sorting out differences over the ToRs and then it was never convened again.

At the very outset, Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry, a member of the committee, advanced the arguments that the Defence Minister Pervez Khattak led committee has no mandate to investigate the alleged manipulation in the elections because the Constitution clearly provides how the post-poll disputes are to be settled in the form of election petitions to be filed in the tribunals. He urged that this recourse should be adopted and the committee has no mandate to look into the elections. A few weeks back, the opposition parties announced to quit the parliamentary body to protest its inaction and dithering on its allocated job. However, they have not done so far. Since long, there has been no talk about the functioning of the forum. After a lot of wrangling between the opposition and government, the National Assembly Secretariat had issued notification for the establishment of the forum on October 15, 2018.

The committee comprises 21 members of the National Assembly and nine senators. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies are represented by Shafqat Mehmood, Shireen Mazari, Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Dogar, Khalid Magsi, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Ameenul Haq and Tariq Cheema.

Former Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Rana Sanaullah belong to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). From the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), former leader of opposition Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf were inducted in the body, along with former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti from the Awami National Party (ANP) and Abdul Wasay from Muthidda Qaumi Movement (MQM).

In addition, Senators Azam Swati, Mohammad Ali Saif, Sarfraz Bugti, Nauman Wazir, Hidayatullah, Javed Abbasi, Asad Junejo, Usman Kakar, Rehman Malik and Abdul Ghafoor Haidery are part of the committee.

In September last year, the government agreed to form the special committee to probe allegations of rigging in the July 25 general elections after both sides took a step back from their stated positions over its composition. As the opposition party during the tenure of the Nawaz Sharif government, the PTI had demanded a comprehensive audit and scrutiny of only four National Assembly constituencies where its candidates had been defeated. The two sides could not reach a consensus on the kind of commission for the probe.

Finally, the matter landed in the Supreme Court where a judicial commission, headed by then Chief Justice, Nasrul Mulk, was formed, which rejected the rigging accusation. However, it gave 34 recommendations to the Election Commission of Pakistan for improvement of the polling process.