The name of new Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan would be finalised before December 1, but consensus is yet to be reached on a candidate for this very important slot. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said this on Friday while addressing a press conference here in his chamber at the Parliament House.
"It's our responsibility to appoint an independent and energetic chief election commissioner and we are in contact with all political parties to evolve consensus in this regard," he said. Earlier this week, the government had sought additional time from the Supreme Court for the appointment of a new CEC. The Supreme Court, however, withdrew the nomination of acting CEC Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and directed the government to make the appointment before December 5.
Shah said that all political parties except Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had agreed on the name of former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani for the chief election commissioner's post. "We can't bring angels for the CEC's post," he said, adding that he was in touch with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the issue of the CEC.
To a question, he said he himself was not clear yet about a specific person to be appointed as the CEC. "I am not clear yet as to who will be finally appointed as the CEC," he said. Shah said that he had sought permission of the Supreme Court to amend the rules; so that anybody other than the judges could be appointed as the CEC. "We want to appoint an energetic person for the position, but unfortunately the government didn't agree with the proposal," he said.
It is not an ordinary process to ensure fair and free elections across Pakistan, he said, adding that the election commission should be made fully autonomous and vibrant through electoral reforms. Talking about alleged rigging in previous elections, he said that nobody has ever accused PPP of carrying out rigging as his party's government had fulfilled all legal and constitutional responsibilities. Shah said that it is responsibility of the government to take care of November 30 public rally and ensure that life and property of the citizens are not vandalised. "The protestors should differentiate between the government and the state," he said, adding that it seems as if the protestors have started challenging the state as well.
He said the government should pass on full relief to people by slashing prices of the petroleum products as this may help improve performance of the PMLN a little. Shah said the government should also introduce a code of conduct for the media as there is no check and balance on it. "The code of conduct should be tabled in the parliament and get approved to control media houses," he said. He said that if the government failed to bring in a code of conduct in the parliament, then his party would soon introduce it.
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