Govt, opposition likely to choose same candidate for CEC appointment

ISLAMABAD: The federal government and opposition are likely to agree over choosing Sikandar Sultan Raja for the position of chief election commissioner (CEC).

During the Senate session, the parliamentary committee discussed names for the appointment of CEC and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Both sides agreed on the names suggested for the vacant seats of ECP’s Sindh and Balochistan chapters, however, the name of CEC was undecided as the names of Babar Yaqoob and Fateh Muhammad were not withdrawn.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will conduct the hearing related to the case on 25th January.

Regarding the post of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the government earlier proposed the names of Babar Yaqoob Fateh, Arif Khan, and Fazal Abbas Maken while the opposition had recommended Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar. 

The two seats of ECP members fell vacant after Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch the commission’s members from Sindh and Balochistan retired in January this year. The government is required to appoint their successors within 45 days of their retirement.

Read more: IHC extends appointment case of ECP members for 15 days

The delay was apparently caused by a lack of consensus between the government and opposition on the appointment of ECP members as meetings of a parliamentary committee comprising members from both sides ended in a stalemate.

Later, the appointments were rejected by the opposition parties and decided to take legal action against the appointments.