PTI likely to handpick Sikander Sultan as new CEC

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which was hell-bent to appoint a candidate of its choice as chief election commissioner, is likely to handpick Sikander Sultan Raja as new CEC - a consensus candidate of all political parties.

However, the sources privy to the developments told Business Recorder on Monday that name of the candidate for CEC would be announced today, as 12-member parliamentary committee on appointment of CEC and two ECP members will meet again today.

They said that the government was not ready to discuss any other name except ex-secretary ECP Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad but this time around, it showed some leniency to consider other name i.e. Sikander Sultan Raja.

Raja is believed to be acceptable to both the government and the opposition especially PML-N and JUI-F, the sources said, adding "His [Raja] appointment as new CEC is very much expected." In Monday's meeting of the parliamentary committee, which met here with Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari in the chair, the government and opposition also discussed the names of two ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan.

The sources said that Shah Mohammad Jatoi is likely to be new ECP member from Balochistan, while Nisar Durrani has emerged as a strong contender from Sindh. The parliamentary committee would formally announce the appointments today.

A senior leader of opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) who declined to be named said that the opposition wanted a candidate who is acceptable to all the political parties. "The reason it [appointment of CEC] took so long is because we wanted a bipartisan candidate for the slot of CEC," he added.

The post of CEC fell vacant after the retirement of former Justice Sardar Raza Khan on Dec 5, 2019. Former Justice Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi took oath as the acting chief election commissioner the next day. The government and opposition parties have met at least a dozen of times over the past 45 days to reach a consensus on the name for the new CEC.

Meanwhile, a three-member scrutiny committee of ECP headed by Director General Law of ECP Muhammad Arshad heard the foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The counsel for the petitioner Akbar S Babar raised objections over the evidence presented by PTI in the case, saying he has serious reservations the plea taken by the party. The case was adjourned for an indefinite period of time.