Daily Times

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in a meeting here at the Parliament House on Monday discussed the appointment of members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and other matters of mutual interest.

They expressed satisfaction over the progress made on the issue of appointment of the new members of the commission. They were confident that the matter of appointment of members of ECP will be resolved amicably. They expressed the resolve to fully perform their constitutional role in the prevailing situation. They agreed to promote consultation among the political parties for resolution of problems faced by the country.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said consensus will be developed on the appointment of next chief election commissioner (CEC) soon. “The consensus is being developed on the names of the members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” he said while speaking to reporters after launch of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2020 at Higher Education Commission (HEC). “Prime Minister Imran Khan, chief justice and army chief all want to strengthen the institutions,” he said, while stressing the need to hold a national-level dialogue with participation of all of them.

Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had last week recommended to Prime Minister Imran Khan the names of Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar for the post of chief election commissioner (CEC). Shehbaz, in a letter sent to the prime minister on November 25, noted that the incumbent CEC Justice (r) Sardar Raza’s term would expire on December 6. He had also reminded the prime minister that two posts for Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) members were already vacant, adding that under Section 3 of the Elections Act, 2017, it was a requirement that an ECP bench must have at least three members, with or without the CEC. He had highlighted the impact of not making the appointments in a timely manner, saying, “The consequence would be that the ECP would become dysfunctional on the said date (December 6), unless either a new CEC or one or more members are appointed.”

Shehbaz, in a separate letter written to the PM, had also recommended names for the two vacant ECP seats from Balochistan and Sindh. For Sindh, he had nominated Nisar Durrani, Justice (r) Abdul Rasul Memon and Aurangzeb Haq; and for Balochistan, he the names of Supreme Court lawyer Shah Muhammad Jatoi, former advocate general of the province Rauf Atta and Rahila Durrani were proposed.

Also on Saturday, Prime Minister Imran sent his recommendations for the ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan to the NA speaker and the Senate chairman, in response to their letter dated Nov 5. For the post of ECP member from Sindh, the prime minister proposed the names of Justice (r) Sadiq Bhatti, Justice (r) Noorul Haq Qureshi and Abdul Jabbar Qureshi. He recommended Dr Faiz M Kakar, Mir Naveed Jan Baloch and Amanullah Baloch for the office of ECP member from Balochistan.