New names being considered for post of CEC, ECP members: report

ISLAMABAD: The government and opposition parties are likely to propose new names for the posts of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in place of their previous nominees.

This will be done due to gross differences over the previous names suggested by the two constitutional consultees – Prime Minister Imran Khan and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif - as they have failed to reach consensus on three names for the positions of the CEC and two ECP members. 

“Neither side is willing to accept the other’s proposals, and hence the deadlock continues, which may be broken with the new recommendations,” a knowledgeable source involved in the process told The News.

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The source further said that the government is insistent on choosing Babar Yaqoob Fateh as the CEC while the opposition is equally adamant not to agree to his choice. 

A 12-member parliamentary committee on appointment of the CEC and ECP members headed by Federal Minister Dr Shireen Mazari has held a number of meetings to hammer out a consensus but failed to make any worthwhile progress. 

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are strongly opposed to the name of Babar Yaqoob Fateh. 

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The post of the CEC is lying vacant since the retirement of Justice (retd) Sardar Raza on Dec 6, whereas the positions of the two ECP members were empty for a year now.

The two constitutional consultees have not met even once to work out an agreement on these important appointments as Imran Khan is averse to any such contact with Shehbaz Sharif. 

However, more than once, they have forwarded their respective recommendations to the parliamentary committee for consideration and decision as prescribed in the Constitution.

Originally published in The News