There is a cross-party consultation process attached to the making of the appointment, which theoretically allows the development of cross-party consensus relative to one of the most sensitive posts in the country. The post itself has become ‘sensitive’ as the opposition parties have accused the government of rigging the last election, and failing to conduct it in an impartial manner. Finding a potential chief election commissioner, who has the trust of all sides and comes without taint or accusation of corruption is extremely difficult, given the polarities that now dominate political life, where give and take is long dead.
The apex Court is clearly exasperated with the political to-and-fro that is getting in the way of the appointment and is now considering issuing notices to the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, ordering that they be asked to explain themselves. The politicians bleat that the dissent of one of their number has once again stymied the process, as one of the possible nominees for the post also decided that he wanted none of it either, and chose not to accept the possibly-poisoned chalice.
Given that the ECP is the fount from which all things electoral flow, it is obvious that an early resolution is required. The country cannot limp along in this manner any longer and the politicians of all hues need to stop dilly-dallying to the benefit of nobody.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2014.
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This is becoming a laughing matter. I am sure there are many good souls who can be trusted and are honest enough to do the job. One of the reasons why the position it is still vacant is because emphasis is given on retired judges. Only a relatively younger person, with energy and respect for rule of law can do the job. If we broaden our approach to include other groups, like army senior officers, or liberal human right experts like Asthma Jahangir, things will brighten up. The fact that any of the selected has sympathies with one party does not mean that he or she will compromise. There are many good people in the country.