The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a motion, authorizing the speaker to constitute a committee to finalize terms of reference (ToRs) with regard to investigation into allegations of rigging in July 25 election. The committee will be constituted in consultation with the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition. The probe body will have equal representation from the government and the opposition benches.
The motion said that the committee will take further steps as mandated in the ToRs to investigate the rigging allegations.
Responding to the points raised by Ahsan Iqbal and Shazia Mari on the issue, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the committee will be fully authorized to carry out its work. He said the PTI has nothing to hide as it believes in strengthening the democratic norms and values.
Qureshi said that transparency will not be compromised under any circumstances, adding that the goal of both the government and opposition benches is to ensure free and fair elections in the country.
He said that it has been decided that the chairman of the committee will be nominated in consultation with the Prime Minister.
Syed Naveed Qamar and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of Pakistan Peoples Party and Khurram Dastgir of the PML-N demanded that the head of the committee should be from the opposition.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said the committee is being constituted on the special directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan which shows his graciousness. He said the PTI demanded opening of only four constituencies in the wake of 2013 general elections but the party had to protest for it for four years.
The minister said that the government has accepted the demand of the opposition for the constitution of the committee.
Speaker Asad Qaiser said the committee will be constituted as per the rules.
Responding to a point of order raised by MNA Ali Wazir from erstwhile FATA, Defense Minister Pervaiz Khattak and Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi said that all the people of Pakistan, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, language and area, are equal in the eyes of the Constitution.
The ministers tendered an apology on broadcast of a Punjab government advertisement in which Pashtun people were linked to subversive activities. They assured the House that stern action will be taken against those responsible for preparing the advertisement.
Comments
Comments are closed.