Newly-appointed ECP members take oath

ISLAMABAD: Four newly-appointed members of the Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday took oath of office in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan reported.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice (rtd) Sardar Muhammad Raza administered oath to Justice (rtd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, Justice (rtd) Irshad Qaiser, Justice (rtd) Shakeel Ahmed Baloch and Abdul Ghaffar Soomro.



The ECP, comprising the chief election commissioner and the four members, has been dysfunctional since the previous four members retired on June 12.

Among the tasks the new members would be dealing with immediately are important petitions of political nature pending with the top election body seeking disqualification of the prime minister and his close relatives.



The ECP is still dominated by retired judges even though parliament in the recently passed 22nd amendment also allowed appointment of retired bureaucrats and civil society members as members of the commission.

Only one non-judge member could make way to the commission from Sindh in the new appointments.