"It is good that the government seems to have realised that horse-trading in senate elections is a serious issue that has done great disservice to the Parliament and political processes and needs to be addressed," he said. However, rigging in elections and horse-trading took place at multiple levels and needed to be comprehensively addressed, he said.
"One hopes that the apparent realisation on the part of the government to address horse-trading will not be a political gimmickry but a first step towards comprehensive electoral reforms," he said. "If the government is serious it should invite all political parties to decide on how best to prevent electoral rigging not only in the Senate but also in the National Assembly, the provincial Assemblies and now also in the local bodies polls," he said.
"We recently witnessed the near breakdown of the civilian and political structures due to the demonstrations and protests against fraud and rigging in the 2013 general elections, the former President said. The parliament and the government were saved from total collapse by the unprecedented unity and commitment of political but it should not lull us into believing that issues in electoral fraud will not rear their ugly heads in the future," he said.
Electoral reforms and preventing horse trading should be addressed by all parties together and not by the government alone. The government should therefore convene a meeting of all political parties to address horse trading in senate elections as well as electoral fraud and rigging of all types including those recently agitated by Imran Khan's Tehrik-e-Insaf.-PR