The parliamentary committee formed to finalise the names of chief election commissioner as well as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Sindh and Balochistan failed to reach consensus on Saturday, and decided to resume its deliberations on Wednesday.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, who is also the chairperson of the committee, chaired the meeting. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan also joined in the huddle. The panel comprises eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate. The government and opposition are equally represented in the committee, with six members from each side.
The committee considered nominations forwarded by the treasury and the opposition for the ECP top slots. Reports said the opposition has sought more time from the government for consultations. “The government and the opposition are going towards a consensus. The opposition has sought time for further discussion. We are expecting that a decision on this will be taken on Wednesday as both sides want to cooperate,” Mazari said after the meeting.
“Discussions between the government and the opposition are still on. The ECP is an important institution of the country and we have to select its members responsibly. We are aiming to make decisions on merit,” said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Under the parliamentary rules, the panel has to make a decision with a two-thirds majority, which means that in order to approve any individual for the post, the nominee’s name should be supported by at least eight members.
For the vacant seats of members, the opposition has recommended the names of Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Rauf Atta and Rahila Durrani for Balochistan and Nisar Durrani, Justice (r) Abdul Rasul Memon and Aurangzeb Haq for Sindh. The government has proposed the names of Dr Faiz Kakar, Naveed Jan and Amanullah Baloch for Balochistan and retired judges Sadiq Bhatti, Noorul Haq Qureshi and Abdul Jabbar Qureshi for Sindh.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser had on Monday warned that if the parliamentary committee failed to evolve a consensus on the makeup of the ECP, they would use their discretion and finalise names of members from Sindh and Balochistan.
According to Article 218 (2B) of the constitution, four (ECP) members, one from each province, each of whom shall be a person who has been a judge of a high court or has been a senior civil servant or is a technocrat and is not more than sixty-five years of age, to be appointed by the president in the manner provided for appointment of the Commissioner in clauses (2A) and (2B) of Article 213.
Article 213 (2A) says, “The Prime Minister shall in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, forward three names for appointment of the Commissioner to a Parliamentary Committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person.”
