ISLAMABAD: A PPP delegation called on Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas on Friday and urged the opposition to join a proposed parliamentary committee on electoral reforms, Senator Sherry Rehman said.
“He told us that he will respond [to the proposal] after consultation. We are hopeful that their response will be positive,” Rehman said in a video statement after the meeting.
The proposal for the committee’s formation was shared by PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during the National Assembly on Thursday.
He had said Parliament had decided to constitute a committee on electoral reforms in response to a PPP request and urged Opposition Leader in the NA Mehmood Khan Achakzai to nominate a representative to the committee since the opposition had described electoral rigging as a “fundamental issue”.
PTI lawmakers had quit the parliamentary standing committees last year on the directives of their party chief.
On Friday, another PPP delegation, comprising the party’s secretary general Nayyar Bokhari, Senator Waqar Mehdi, Nadeem Afzal Chan and Rehman, visited Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas with yet another invitation to join the proposed body.
The opposition delegation included Abbas, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri and Senator Ali Zafar.
Bokhari said the opposition leaders told the PPP delegation that they would consult with all opposition parties before coming up with their response to the PPP invitation.
Speaking during the meeting, Senator Rehman said the objective of the committee was to bring the government and opposition together to formulate joint proposals for ensuring free, fair and transparent elections.
“Repeated questions over the credibility of the electoral process undermine the credibility of Parliament itself. Free, fair and transparent elections are essential not only for protecting the rights of voters but also for strengthening democratic institutions,” she added.
Rehman said that the committee would deliberate and present its recommendations before parliament for approval. She stressed that electoral reforms must be a collective parliamentary undertaking to ensure broad-based political consensus and public confidence.
A source privy to the meeting told Dawn that the PPP delegation also urged the opposition leaders to sit down with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding the appointment of a new chief election commissioner (CEC), as the incumbent CEC was still sitting in office even after two years of retirement.
Under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, the CEC continues to serve until the appointment of a successor.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Rehman said: “We have told the opposition that they must join this committee, play an active role and openly express their reservations.”
She added, “If they (opposition members) remain absent, how will their reservations be addressed?”
“Every political party should ensure its participation in the committee. We all know that the PTI has boycotted parliamentary committees. So we asked them to join this committee, play an active role in it, express their reservations and suggest reforms,” Rehman said in the video statement.
These committees, she said, were the “heart of parliamentary work”.
She further stated that the PTI should participate in other parliamentary committees as well and “strengthen Parliament’s role”.
Rehman added that Abbas had welcomed the PPP delegation, expressed gratitude to Bilawal and said they would respond to the proposal after consultation.
“We are hopeful that their response will be positive,” she said.
PTI’s Parliamentary leader in the Senate, Senator Zafar, said while speaking to the media that electoral reforms were essential for strengthening democracy and ensuring public confidence in the electoral process.
However, he emphasised that the fundamental problem in Pakistan was not the absence of laws or the need to make new laws. “The real problem lies in their implementation,” he said.
“The key question is how we will ensure that existing electoral laws are implemented honestly, transparently and without discrimination. Unless this fundamental issue is addressed, merely introducing new laws will not achieve the desired results.”
Zafar thanked the PPP for extending the offer and stated that the PTI would discuss the proposal internally within the party before formulating and communicating its response.
He reiterated that any meaningful discussion on electoral reforms must address both the legal framework and, more importantly, the mechanisms to ensure its effective implementation.
A day earlier, another PPP delegation invited Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai to participate in the parliamentary committee to promote consultation and discussion among parliamentary representatives on electoral reforms.
Later, in a press conference, Raja Pervez Ashraf said the PPP delegation had a meeting with Achakzai on Bilawal’s instructions to invite him to join the committee.
“The PPP wants the PTI to participate in parliamentary standing committees as well as the electoral reforms committee,” he added.
Achakzai had sought time to consult before responding to the invitation, he said.
Addressing a rally in Karachi earlier this month, Bilawal had also extended an olive branch to the opposition parties, saying their positive engagement with the federal government could result in the reversal of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The PPP chairman had invited the opposition to join the Parliamentary electoral reforms process and “engage with the federal government”.
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