The appointment of a permanent and impartial Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has seen a drawn out tussle between the two leading political parties of the country, the PPP and the PML-N. The pending issue hit a snag because of the contempt of court charges laid on the prime minister (PM) by the Supreme Court (SC), after which the PML-N refused to accept Gilani as the legitimate PM. The newly elected PM, Raja Pervez Ashraf, has invited the chief of the PML-N, Mian Nawaz Sharif, to restart the consultative process on the appointment of the CEC. The invitation is being seen as a decisive step towards agreeing on an interim setup to hold free and fair elections and for a smooth transition after. The post of CEC fell vacant on March 23, 2012 with the retirement of Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza. Justice Shakirullah Jan is since serving as the acting CEC on the instructions of the SC. After the 20th Amendment, the selection of the CEC is no more the prerogative of the president. The CEC henceforth is to be appointed though a consultative process between the PM and the leader of the opposition. Since there could not be any straightforward consensus between the two parties, each party has given three names to the National Assembly to make the appointment. The PML-N has reservations over the names suggested by the PPP and the opposite is the case with the PML-N. Since an air of mistrust and suspicion exists between the two parties, the resolution of the issue is seen as a hard nut to crack unless both parties understand its implications and move accordingly. A lapse or a difference bordering on a rift in any of the processes leading to the elections could put spanners in the wheels of democracy. In the obtaining circumstances, it would not be surprising if a deadlock, were it to emerge, becomes the excuse for intervention by a ‘third party’. For the continuation of the political process and the sustainability of democracy, this invitation and a welcome of the same by the opposition is a step in the right direction. The power circles within and outside parliament are apprehensive about the failure so far to agree on an interim setup, which could lead to extra-constitutional and anti-democratic developments. Consensus among the political forces on this issue is the only way to alleviate this apprehension. Calling for such a consensus, the PM has touched the right nerve while suggesting that the pressure that brought about the dismissal of Yousuf Raza Gilani, were it to continue, could plunge the country into a political crisis. Though political stability depends on the politicians and their acts, the role of the media and that of the judiciary cannot be ignored. With every institution of the state exerting itself, at times at the expense of other institutions, a mature and balanced attitude is required to keep the political temperature from rising to unmanageable levels. Sensationalising developments in this regard by the media or entertaining cases by the courts that give rise to heightened tension could derail the democratic process. A country with weak democratic roots needs care and proper handling, which could only come with convergence between the leading political parties. Though the dumping of the Charter of Democracy has harmed the PPP more than any other party, coming together on critical issues such as the appointment of the CEC and agreement on an interim setup could become a belated nod in the direction of the Charter, which was signed knowing the bitter reality that divergence among the political forces on important national issues renders the system at risk. *