Don’t go after my age, look at my experience: New CEC

Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim takes oath as new chief election commissioner; CJ administers oath. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was sworn in as chief election commissioner on Monday under the supervision of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry at the Supreme Court building, Express News reported.

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had officially communicated its preference to have Ebrahim administer the office of the CEC on July 20, 2012.

However, on July 18, he had requested through a letter addressed to the registrar of the Supreme Court that his oath-taking ceremony should be rescheduled on July 23 or “any other date in the week, as per the convenience of the chief justice of Pakistan.”

Snubbing his critics while speaking to the media after the oath-taking ceremony, the CEC said that one should not consider his age as a setback, but see his extensive experience.

Justice (retd) Ebrahim said that holding transparent elections would be his “last mission”.

When asked if the ECP was ready to hold general elections, the CEC said that the commission was ready, however, it was the prime minister’s prerogative to announce the date of the elections.

Responding to a question regarding the code-of-conduct formed by the ECP, Ebrahim said that the commission had a “great team” and that it was confident in holding transparent and rigging-free elections.

A 12-member parliamentary committee, headed by federal minister Syed Khurshid Shah, had reached consensus on Justice (retd) Ebrahim’s name out of six nominees as the CEC.

Ebrahim was one of the three names nominated by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Justice (retd) Nasim Sikander and acting CEC Justice Shakirullah Jan were the other two nominated by the party.