ECP functional after judges take oath

Retired judges of High Courts from each of the four provinces will serve as members of the commission.

ISLAMABAD: Four new members took oath on Monday to complete the reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The oath-taking ceremony was held in Islamabad and was administered by Chief Election Commissioner, Justice (retd) Hamid Ali Mirza.

The new members who took oath include Justice (retd) Fazalur- Rehman (Balochistan), Justice (retd) Shahzad Akbar Khan (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa), Justice (retd) Riaz Kayani (Punjab) and Justice (retd) Muhammad Roshan Essani (Sindh).

The ceremony was attended by Federal Minister Khurshid Shah and other members of the parliament.

The 18th amendment to the Constitution, passed last year, had changed the nomenclature of the ECP, under which rather than serving judges, retired judges of High Courts from each of the four provinces would serve as members of the commission.

Under the new law, the powers of the chief election commissioner have been transferred to the commission as a whole, which includes four members and one chief commissioner.