Khattak elected chairperson of committee to probe election rigging

Published November 7, 2018
Khattak was elected the committee chairperson unopposed. — File
Khattak was elected the committee chairperson unopposed. — File

The 30-member parliamentary committee formed to finalise the terms of reference (ToRs) for the impending probe into allegations of rigging during the 2018 elections held its opening session on Wednesday and unanimously appointed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Pervez Khattak as the committee chairperson.

Khattak's name for the chairperson's role was proposed by PPP's Naveed Qamar. After no one objected to it, the federal defence minister assumed the role unopposed.

However, the opposition and government's representatives appeared to be at loggerheads over the name of the probe committee, with the former insisting that the name should mention a "rigging probe" but government members pointing out that the National Assembly resolution on the issue only talks about a "review".

After some deliberation, it was decided that the members should move forward from the impasse over what the committee should be called.

"The name of the committee is a trivial matter; we will settle it mutually," Khattak told the media later on. "The [task] for this committee today was to elect a chairperson, which it did by choosing me."

The former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM made it clear that "appointing a co-chairperson was out of the question. There will only be one chairperson."

The committee today also formed a sub-committee to outline the ToRs for the committee that will prove or disprove alleged rigging in the 2018 polls.

The eight-member sub-committee, Khattak said, will make its recommendations within 15 days.

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