Appointment of ECP members: PTI hoping to reach understanding with PPP

Party seeks Khursheed Shah’s help in selecting ‘joint’ candidates in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: With time quickly running out, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is hoping to reach an understanding with the main opposition party in the National Assembly, the PPP, to install ‘joint candidates’ in the top election body, The Express Tribune has learnt.

However, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah seems to be in no hurry.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, head of a 12-member parliamentary committee for appointment of the chief election commissioner and four commission members, recently disclosed that the government has proposed its names for new commission members and is now waiting for the opposition leader’s feedback ahead of the finalisation of names. The proposed names were not disclosed.

Four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had retired on June 12, 2016. According to the procedure laid down in Article 213 (2A) of the Constitution, new members must be appointed after due consultation between the government and opposition within 45 days of their retirement. In other words, 27 July is the deadline for appointing the new members.

But the government is not alone in waiting for a response from Shah. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is the second largest opposition party in the National Assembly by size, is also waiting to hold discussions with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader about the members.

“Leader of the opposition has not contacted us yet,” PTI Information Secretary Naeemul Haq told the The Express Tribune.

The PTI is keen on installing joint candidates in the ECP, it has been learnt. Sources say that the PTI, which took out protest rallies, staged a months-long sit-in outside the parliament and went to the courts over rigging in the 2013 general elections, is quite concerned about the appointment of new ECP members.



The party has drawn up its own list of reputable bureaucrats and technocrats, in line with the recently passed 22nd constitutional amendment, to be appointed in the ECP in all four provinces.

In this regard, the PTI is likely to ask the PPP to nominate a candidate of its choice for Sindh. In exchange, it will ask the PPP to accommodate its nominees in other provinces, particularly in Punjab.

Punjab—the decisive factor for general elections since it accounts for nearly 146 seats in the 269 seat National Assembly, or over half of all seats, is key for all political parties who want to come to power.

The PPP was virtually wiped out in Punjab in the 2013 general elections by both the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PTI. PTI thus realises that Punjab is key and is taking steps to ensure that the incumbent rulers do not appoint handpicked member of the commission.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2016.