The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) wants an aggressive chief as opposed to the one who is 'malleable' like former Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, well-placed sourced told Business Recorder. Sources added that "the top officials of the commission not only want an aggressive, authoritative chairman but also the one who is physically strong so that he could perform his duties well. We need a chief who could implement laws, rules and regulations for the coming elections."
The sources said the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) would be appointed for five years and would hold the coming Local Bodies Elections, Senate elections in 2015 and next general elections 2018. A procedure has been outlined in the Constitution for appointment of CEC in Article 213: "The Prime Minister shall in consultation with the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, forward three names for appointment of the Commissioner to a Parliamentary Committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person."
The government and opposition have agreed to appoint former Justice Rana Bhagwandas as new Chief Election Commission of Pakistan. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has not been taken into confidence in this regard. Vice President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) having 34 seats in the assembly Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Business Recorder that neither the leader of the opposition (with 44 seats in the assembly) nor any member of the government contacted his party to elicit their views on the proposed CEC. He however acknowledged that Bhagwandas is a man of integrity however he can easily be outvoted by the four members, each representing one province, who were appointed by the previous government for a period of five years. Qureshi pointed out that Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was also an honest man but he was outvoted and did not have the stamina to resist moves to manipulate the elections by the four other commission members.
However, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is in favour of Bhagwandas as it considers him an honest person. Senator Col Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (Retd) told Business Recorder that his party supports the appointment of Rana Bhagwandas...he (Rana) is an honest and a man of integrity.
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