The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted ten more days for the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and two members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A single bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard three petitions filed by lawmakers including Senator Mohammad Javed Abbasi and Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema, and Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon, a lawyer.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Minallah remarked that it is collective responsibility of everyone to maintain dignity of the Parliament. He deferred hearing after issuing aforementioned directions.
The IHC bench had already suspended a presidential notification regarding the appointment of two ECP members and directed that the matter be solved by the Parliament.
The petitioners including Senator Mohammad Javed Abbasi and Member National Assembly (MNA) Dr Nisar Ahmed Cheema are also members of the parliamentary committee that recommends names of the ECP members.
President Arif Alvi on August 22 appointed Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from Balochistan against the two ECP positions, which had fallen vacant after completion of the terms of Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and former Justice Shakeel Baloch from the respective provinces.
The lawmakers challenged the notification issued by the President for the appointment of Siddiqui and Kakar as ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.
In their petitions, they have argued that since Prime Minister Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif had failed to develop consensus on the names of ECP members, the parliamentary committee on the appointment of the chief election commissioner and ECP members was deliberating upon the names for vacant positions in the ECP.
According to the petitions, it was a surprise for the lawmakers that instead of following the procedure laid down by the Constitution and the superior courts, President Alvi had made the appointments through his discretionary powers.
The petitions said that the criteria for appointment of the chief election commissioner and ECP members have been provided in the Constitution.
The petitions contended that the notification issued for the appointment of ECP members on August 22 was in violation of Articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution.
The petitioners pointed out that due to the "grave illegality, the chief election commissioner has refused to administer oath" to the newly appointed ECP members.
According to them, there is no constitutional provision which allows the President to appoint Siddiqui and Kakar by invoking his discretionary powers. After the passage of the 18th Constitution Amendment, the President has lost his discretion to appoint members of the ECP.
The lawmakers said that the President, Prime Minister and secretary parliamentary affairs could not complete the constitutional process as a five-member Supreme Court bench had specifically provided guidelines for appointments in the ECP. They added that the appointment of both ECP members-designate had been made without following due process and that it was marred with nepotism and favoritism.
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