ECP members’ names likely to be finalised today

ISLAMABAD: As the July 27 deadline set by the Supreme Court to make appointments of members of the Election Commission of Pakistan approaches, the government and the opposition seemed to have narrowed down their differences on the issue and found ‘consensus’ candidates.

It is expected that a decisive meeting to announce the final names of ECP members would take place on Thursday (today) after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who arrived in the federal capital earlier on Wednesday, would get a briefing from Finance Minister Ishaq Dar regarding the opposition’s point of view.

In Wednesday’s meeting between Dar and Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah, it was agreed that the names of ECP members should be finalised within the stipulated constitutional deadline of 45 days which is expiring on July 25.

Both the sides once again reiterated that the appointments would be made on merit in an effort to ensure free and fair general elections in the country in the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2016.