Four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will retire on June 10 on the expiry of their tenures. The date of retirement of ECP members is approaching but consultations between the government and the opposition for the appointment of the new ones have yet to be started. Chief Election Commissioner former justice Sardar Raza will continue as CEC till December 2019, while the other four members are going to retire on June 10 after completing their five-year term.
The retiring members include former justice Roshan Esani (Sindh), former justice Riaz Kiyani (Punjab), former justice Fazal-ur-Rehman (Balochistan) and former justice Shahzad Akbar Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Out of the four new members to be appointed now, two would retire after two and a half years while the rest would complete five-year tenure. This procedure would be adopted to ensure that all posts of the ECP members do not fall vacant at same time in the future.
As per Article 13 A and B of the Constitution, the Prime Minister is bound to send three names from each province to a 12-member parliamentary committee, which will pick one name for appointment as ECP member from the respective province. The parliamentary committee must have equal representation of opposition and government legislators - eight members of the National Assembly and four senators.
Earlier, retiring members were appointed in ECP in June 2011 for a five-year's term after consultations between the government and the opposition parties, according to the procedure as per 18th Constitutional Amendment. According to 22nd Amendment, all powers and authorities held by Election Commission members have been dismissed and transferred to Chief Election Commissioner as a sole decision maker.
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