The Islamabad High Court on Monday ordered to forward the matter of appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan to the Parliament.
A single-member bench presided over by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard a set of petitions against the federal government’s decision to appoint Sindh and Balochistan members of the ECP on grounds that President Arif Alvi made the appointments without adopting the procedure laid down in clauses 2A and 2B of Article 213 of the constitution.
“This is a public interest case. The ECP is almost non-functional,” noted Justice Minallah as secretary parliamentary affairs in his reply urged the court not to hear the case until it is decided by the Supreme Court. “Do you want the commission to become fully ineffective because the matter is also pending before the apex court?” he asked, wondering why the federal government is defending deadlock over the appointment of ECP members.
Court wonders why the matter cannot be resolved on parliament’s floor
The court directed National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to end the deadlock and find a solution through consultations. “Who says that the matter cannot be resolved on the parliament’s floor? We have faith in the August House and believe it can undertake the task to decide on the matter,” the chief justice said. “State institutions should not stop working. The NA speaker and Senate chairman should prevent ECP from becoming non-functional,” he added.
In August, the parliamentary affairs ministry had notified the appointment of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui and Munir Ahmed Kakar as ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan respectively. However, Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza Khan had refused to take oath from the two new members nominated by the government, arguing that the new members were not appointed in accordance with articles 213 and 214 of the constitution.
