Opposition parties in the Senate apparently violated the 18th Amendment to the Constitution while nominating members for the formation of Parliamentary Committee for reconstitution of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Under the 18th Amendment, the ECP needed to be reconstituted with a member from each province, who should have been a judge of High Court.
Though the Chief Election Commissioner was already appointed before the 18th amendment, but the members have not yet been appointed by the Parliamentary Committee. According to Article 213 of the Constitution, "The Parliamentary Committee to be constituted by the Speaker shall comprise 50 percent members from the treasury and 50 percent from opposition benches, based on their strength in Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), to be nominated by the respective Parliamentary Leaders:"
The strength of opposition parties in the Senate is as follows: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) has 22 senators; Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) 10 members, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 7 members and Jamaat-e-Islami has only three members in the Upper House of the Parliament.
Article 213 of the Constitution further says, "Provided further that the total strength of the Parliamentary Committee shall not exceed twelve members out of which one-third shall be from the Senate." So the Parliamentary Committee must consist of a maximum of twelve members, eight from the National Assembly and four from the Senate.
Accordingly, a total of four members would be taken from the Senate, two each from the treasury and opposition benches. For this purpose the opposition parties have to nominate two members. According to strength of opposition parties in the Senate, PML-Q is in first position, JUI-F in second and PML-N is in third. So one member should be nominated from the PML-Q and one from JUI-F.
But the PML-Q has nominated two Senators, Haroon Akther Khan of PML-Q and Professor Khursheed Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami(JI). No member was taken from second largest party JUI-F while one member has been taken from JI, which is in fourth position that is a violation of the Constitution.
Similarly, the PML-N has nominated Senator Raja Muhammad Zafar-ul-Haq for the committee but according to constitution it is not eligible to nominate a member because it falls in third position. On the other hand, Leader of House in the Senate Nayyer Hussain Bokhari has already nominated Senators Islamuddin Shaikh of PPP and Haji Muhammad Adeel of ANP.
According to strength of government parties in the Senate, PPP has 26 members and ANP and MQM each have six members. If the PPP nominates one member, it can take one from any party- ANP or MQM. When contacted, PML-Q Information Secretary Tariq Azeem admitted that there was a violation of constitution, however, he said it was done with the understanding of opposition parties.