Summary
- He also said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar would take the final decision on the committee’s membership following consultations with opposition parties members of the ruling coalition and relevant parliamentary leaders.
- The announcement comes amid efforts to bring opposition lawmakers back into parliamentary committees and secure broader political participation in the electoral reform process.
- On October 29 PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to use the authority given to him by PTI founder Imran Khan to encourage opposition members to resume participation in key parliamentary committees particularly the body dealing with electoral reforms.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will each receive two seats on the Senate’s Electoral Reforms Committee Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry announced on Thursday.
According to the minister four other political parties — the Awami National Party (ANP) Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) National Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) — will each be given one seat on the parliamentary panel.
In a statement shared on X, Chaudhry outlined the proposed distribution of seats indicating that the three major parties would have equal representation in the committee tasked with considering changes to Pakistan’s electoral framework.
He also said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar would take the final decision on the committee’s membership following consultations with opposition parties members of the ruling coalition and relevant parliamentary leaders.
The announcement comes amid efforts to bring opposition lawmakers back into parliamentary committees and secure broader political participation in the electoral reform process.
On October 29 PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai to use the authority given to him by PTI founder Imran Khan to encourage opposition members to resume participation in key parliamentary committees particularly the body dealing with electoral reforms.
A PPP delegation had also met Achakzai at the National Assembly to invite him to support the committee’s work and facilitate opposition participation.
The PPP chairman had previously approached opposition parties on August 20 urging them to return to parliamentary standing committees. He also called for cooperation on the appointment of the chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan alongside wider electoral reforms.
The proposed seat distribution is intended to bring representatives of several parliamentary parties into the reform process while the final membership will depend on consultations led by Ishaq Dar.
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