Daily Times

Another thaw has taken place in the working relationship between the opposition and the treasury in the shape of key appointments in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Sikandar Sultan Raja has won the confidence of both sides to be appointed the new chief election commissioner (CEC), while Nisar Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi will be ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan. Announcing the names, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said the parliamentary committee worked with a great responsibility to pick the names and that parliamentary matters needed to be decided by the parliament. The name of Raja, a retired bureaucrat and man of impeccable integrity, was floated by Prime Minister Imran Khan. The other two nominees were Jamil Ahmad and Fazal Abbas Maken. Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif proposed former attorney general Irfan Qadir, Nasir Mehmood Khosa, brother of former chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, and Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar, a former federal secretary, for the top poll body slot. The process should have been completed in September but it is always better late than never. Both the opposition and the treasury never showed keenness on early nomination against the constitutional posts. It is the duty of both sides to fill vacant slots under Article 213 (2-A) of the Constitution. But in those days, both sides had strained ties, mainly due to the hounding of opposition leaders by the government. Gradually, things improved when the government showed allowed jailed PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to leave Pakistan for treatment. Then the opposition supported the government in the passage of the army act. Now, a new normal exists where the government is totally focused on resolving a flurry of crises, such as a forward bloc in Punjab, the shortage of flour and price hike in sugar.

It is hoped that in future such appointments, where both sides have to sit together and forge an agreement on nomination, will not be delayed. Also that both sides will show political maturity to resolve such issues, instead of creating unnecessary deadlocks. In case parliament fails to play its role, the space is encroached upon by other institutions. As was the case, Senator Sirajul Haq floated a bill proposing a way forward in case of deadlock over appointment of the CEC and ECP members. The bill proposes that the matter should be decided by a judicial body, consisting of judges. Yet it is this paper’s considered opinion that parliamentarians should learn to resolve issues within itself. *