Islamabad June 20, 2014: A consultative meeting was held in Parliament House this morning with Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in the chair. The meeting was convened to discuss the constitution of a proposed Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms.

 

 

The meeting was attended by Syed Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Leader of Opposition, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Minister for Defence Production, Mr. Zahid Hamid, Minister for Science & Technology, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Minister for Railways, Sheikh Aftab Ahmad, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, MNAs Mr. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Maulana Fazl ur Rehman, Mrs. Shahida Akhtar Ali, Mr. Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, Sahibzada Tariq Ullah, Mr Usman Khan Tarrakai, Syed Naveed Qamar, Mr. Abdul Rahim Mandokhail, Mr. Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Mr. Sufyan Yousuf, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Mr. Muhammad Muzammil Qureshi and Dr. Arif Alvi.

 

The Speaker thanked all the Parliamentary leaders and representatives of political parties for attending the meeting. He said that the meeting in question has been convened in furtherance of the unanimous motion adopted in the House for constitution of a committee on Electoral Reforms. He said that giving importance to the matter, the Committee should meet on daily basis and evaluate the shortcomings of the previous electoral process and make recommendations to free, fair and transparent elections. He said that he had not consented to the proposal of extension for one month to the committee so it should complete the task assigned to it within the stipulated timeframe. He was confident that the Committee would make comprehensive recommendations acceptable to all.

 

After detailed discussion, all the participants agreed on composition of the proposed Committee. It was agreed that the committee will comprise of 33-member from all the parliamentary parties in proportion to their representation in Parliament. The major parties decided to relinquish one seat each from their quota to accommodate single member parties in the Parliament, whose representation was otherwise not possible. The Speaker asked the Parliamentary leaders to forward names of their Members to the National Assembly Secretariat at the earliest.

 

The Speaker further informed the participants that he will meet Chairman Senate and take him on board regarding constitution of the proposed committee as a similar resolution needs to be moved in the Senate.