The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday directed to refer the issue of appointment of two members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to the Parliament. Hearing a petition challenging the appointment of two ECP members, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that National Assembly speaker and chairman Senate should look into the matter to end the deadlock and prevent the Commission from becoming dysfunctional.

President Dr Arif Alvi, on August 22, appointed Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from Balochistan against two the vacant posts previously held by Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and Justice Shakeel Baloch (retired) from the respective provinces. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) refused to administer oath to both members-designate and wrote a letter to the Law Ministry, saying that the appointment of ECP members was not in accordance with relevant articles of the Constitution.

Following this, the IHC admitted a petition filed by Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon, challenging the appointments, for regular hearing. During the proceedings on Monday, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman told the court that petitions regarding the ECP appointments had been submitted in the apex court, the Sindh High Court and the Lahore High Court.

"This is a matter of public interest...do you want to make the ECP dysfunctional?" Justice Minallah questioned. He continued that the ECP had become almost non-functional, adding if the Parliament cannot even resolve such a small issue. He said that NA speaker and chairman Senate should resolve the issue through consultations. "Does the federal government still want to defend the deadlock?" he asked.

To which, the additional attorney general said that he should be granted permission to ask the federal government for instructions. The court expressed confidence in the Parliament to solve the matter, as Justice Minallah remarked: "Who will say that this matter should not be solved in the forum of the parliament? Constitutional institutions should not be non-functional; does the government want this?"

Prior to the hearing, the secretary Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs submitted a reply in the court on behalf of the federal government, requesting the IHC to adjourn proceedings on the petition till the Supreme Court issued its verdict on the matter.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019