Appointment: Four retired judges named for election commission

The parliamentary panel’s recommendation to be sent to PM for final notification.


Qamar Zaman June 02, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


A parliamentary committee, tasked with finalising appointments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), confirmed on Wednesday the commission members’ nominations.


The commission, formed after the adoption of the 18th constitutional amendment and headed by Syed Khurshid Shah, approved the appointments of four high court judges, one from each province.

The nominated members are: Justice (retd) Fazalur Rehman from Balochistan, Justice (retd) Shahzad Akbar Khan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Justice (retd) Muhammad Roshan Essani from Sindh and Justice (retd) Riaz Kiani from Punjab.

The parliamentary panel decided that the recommendations would be sent to the prime minister for the issuance of a final notification.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the government to finalise the formation of the commission in accordance with the 18th Amendment. Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq had admitted before the court that there existed no election commission. However, a committee had been formed by the government in the regard.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Khurshid Shah said that the unanimous decision on the formation of an independent election commission was a major achievement of the parliamentary panel, adding that the panel would remain functional despite the nominations.

When asked to comment on the fate of the incumbent chief election commissioner, he said that he would be allowed to complete his tenure.

The meeting was attended by Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, Zahid Hamid, Tehmina Daultana, Ghias Ahmed Mela, Islamuddin Sheikh, Arif Aziz Sheikh, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri and Haji Muhammad Adil.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2011.

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