ISLAMABAD: After a six-month political impasse between the government and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on the alleged rigging in 2013 general elections, the opposition Jirga has finally prepared terms of reference (TORs) of proposed judicial commission to conduct audit of polls.

According to TORs, the judicial commission will be headed by a judge of the Supreme Court with two members from any high court, the right of complaint and providing evidence to the commission has not been confined to the PTI only but to any other party and individual and the responsibility of any rigging in 2013 polls would be rest with the caretaker setup and not the present government.

Know more: Imran threatens to take to the streets again if rigging not probed

The commission will ascertain whether there was an organised rigging or polls were conducted justly and fairly, legal action will recommended against abettors, services of any law enforcement agency will be sought, proceeding of the commission will be open and will be made public and the government will be bound to act on findings of the commission.

The Jirga which met at the residence of Senator Rehman Malik on Friday sent copies of the proposed TORs to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

The TORs of the judicial commission have been chalked out in the light of letters and viewpoints of both the government and the PTI.

“While preparing TORs we have tried our best to accommodate viewpoints of both PML-N and the PTI,” Mr Malik told Dawn after the Jirga meeting.

He said the Jirga had completed a big task and now the responsibility to end the crisis rest with the government and the PTI.

“If the PTI does not accept the TORs and stick to its stance, it means it wants to come on streets again and if the government rejects the TORs it will prove the PML-N wants PTI to be on the streets,” the Jirga’s coordinator said.

When contacted, Information Minister Pervez Rashid said the government was ready to resolve the issue amicably and would agree to all those proposals that would be in accordance with law and constitution.

He, however, said that he could not comment on the TORs prepared by the Jirga as the government had so far not received the Jirga’s letter.

Talking to Dawn, PTI leader Jehangir Tareen, who is leading the party’s negotiation team, said he had received a letter of the Jirga and had convened a meeting of the negotiation team on Monday in Islamabad to study the proposed TORs.

“We will be able to respond to the Jirga’s letter and its TORs by Monday,” he said.

Following is the text of TORs prepared by the Jirga:

“The judicial commission to be constituted will be headed by a judge of the Supreme Court with two members from any high court to investigate charges/allegations levelled by PTI about massive rigging/manipulation in the general election-2013.

“The proposed TORs and scope of the judicial commission shall be as under:

1) The judicial commission shall investigate allegations of rigging as alleged by complainant/media reports.

2) (a) The complainant will have the option to present evidence to prove his/her claim before the judicial commission.

(b) The judicial commission shall investigate the allegation of rigging against the care-taker set-up with the view to benefit a particular party/candidate.

(c) Article 218 (3) of the Constitution provides a reasonable compromise basis for the TOR of the judicial commission. Under this proposal, the TOR of the JC would be that: `The JC shall inquire into and determine whether or not the 2013 general elections were organised and conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law and that corrupt practices were guarded against.’

(d) The judicial commission shall recommend the legal action against those who abetted the rigging, if any.

3) The judicial commission shall be able to co-opt services of any law-enforcement agency to investigate the alleged rigging.

4) (a) The proceedings of the judicial commission shall be open and not in-camera.

(b) The outcome of the judicial commission shall be made public within three months.

5) The government shall be bound to act on the findings of the said judicial commission.”

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play