Federal govt likely to appoint ECP chief today

ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition have reached close to an understanding under which candidate for the post of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) is most likely to be appointed today.

A meeting of the parliamentary panel on appointment of CEC and two ECP members was postponed again on Wednesday.

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The meeting was first scheduled for Monday, but it was postponed till 2pm on Wednesday then its time was changed to 4pm and again it was put off till Thursday.

While CEC may be chosen from govt-proposed names, members from Sindh and Balochistan may be opposition’s nominees

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Mushahidullah Khan said it had been decided in the last meeting of the parliamentary panel that the decision on appointment of CEC and two ECP members will be taken the same day.

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He said the government wanted to finalise names of two ECP members first, but the opposition rejected the idea and insisted that all the three appointments should be made in one go.

The ECP became non-functional after the retirement of CEC Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan on Dec 5.

ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan — Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch — had retired on January 26.

Under Articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution, the prime minister, in consultation with the opposition leader, forwards three names for the post of CEC to a parliamentary committee constituted by the National Assembly speaker for confirmation of one name.

In case a consensus is not reached between the prime minister and the opposition leader, the law says that each will forward separate names to the parliamentary committee for finalisation of one name.

READ MORE: IHC gives another 10 days for ECP appointments

The law is, however, silent on the way forward in case of a stalemate at the bipartisan parliamentary committee having equal representation of the lawmakers from the government and the opposition.

The appointment of two ECP members was challenged in the IHC by two members of the parliamentary committee belonging to the PML-N.

The High Court in its order, while observing that constitutional provisions were not followed, had referred the matter to parliament and suspended the notification of appointment of the two members.