Appointments of CEC, two members: Government, opposition agree to end deadlock

The government and opposition have agreed to end the deadlock in making key appointments in Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), including the chief election commissioner (CEC) and two members against the vacant positions of the Commission from Sindh and Balochistan.

The meeting of the parliamentary committee on appointment of the chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan was held in-camera with Dr Shireen Mazari in the chair, here at the Parliament House.

The 12-member representative body of the government and the opposition parties agreed to reach an early consensus on one name for the office of the chief election commissioner which has been lying vacant since the retirement of the previous CEC former Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza last month.

Talking to reporters informally, former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who is representing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the committee, expressed the optimism that the panel may agree on one name very soon.

He said the committee decided that the government will circulate a revised list with addition of one or two names and the opposition will also exchange its list with the government side with some addition of nominees.

He said that the committee will again meet on Friday and the two sides will discuss the lists to be exchanged for nomination of the next chief election commissioner. "I am confident that we may agree on one name by Saturday (January 18)," he added.

To a question, he said that the deliberations are only under way for the finalization of the nominee for the office of the chief election commissioner, adding that the selection of the two members of the ECP against the vacant positions is settled matter.

The ECP has been incomplete for almost one year after its members from Sindh and Balochistan retired on January 26, 2019.

The committee had last met on December 4, 2019 and since then its meetings have been repeatedly postponed due to opposition's boycott. On December 3, 2019, both the sides had reached consensus over the appointment of government's nominee Naveed Jan Baloch as ECP member from Balochistan with the condition that the government would also withdraw its objection on the opposition's nominee against the vacant position from Sindh.

The CEC and ECP members are appointed with consensus between the leader of the house (prime minister) and leader of the opposition in National Assembly. Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently recommended former Secretary ECP Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, and former federal secretaries Fazal Abbas Maken and Arif Khan for the elevation of anyone of them to the coveted slot of the CEC.

Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif has recommended the names of former federal secretaries Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar for the CEC post.

According to Article 213 of the Constitution, "(2 A) 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.

"Article (2B) The Parliamentary Committee to be constituted by the Speaker shall comprise fifty percent members from the Treasury Benches and fifty percent from the Opposition Parties, based on their strength in Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), to be nominated by the respective Parliamentary Leaders: "Provided that in case there is no consensus between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, each shall forward separate lists to the Parliamentary Committee for consideration which may confirm any one name."

As per the relevant constitutional provisions, the criteria for the appointment of the CEC and the four ECP members (one member is appointed from each province) is the same and the CEC and ECP members are appointed for five years with half of the members (two out of four) retiring after 2.5 years.