ECP parliamentary panel to meet on Dec 24

Govt sources have expressed hope that the matter of appointments would be resolved by next week

ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee meeting on the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members has been called on December 24.

The 12-member parliamentary committee will meet with Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari in chair.

It will be the eighth in-camera session of the parliamentary committee that will be held at the Parliament House, committee room number 5 at 4pm.

The members of the meeting will deliberate on the names proposed by the treasure and opposition benches.

Sources in government have expressed hope that the matter of ECP appointments would be resolved by next week.

The ECP had become non-functional after the retirement of CEC Sardar Mohammad Raza on December 5.

On August 22, the president appointed Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui as ECP member for Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar for Balochistan against the positions vacated by Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch, from the two provinces.

But the CEC refused to administer the oath of office to both of them, while terming their appointment unconstitutional.

In a written statement, the ECP said the president had made the appointments “in violation of clauses 2A and 2B of Article 213 of the Constitution”.

On November 4, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the appointments and referred the matter to parliament.

The government has proposed the names of ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, former federal secretaries Fazal Abbas Maiken and Arif Ahmad Khan for the post of election commissioner.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had proposed the names of Nasir Mehmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jillani and Ikhlaq Ahmed Tarar for the post of CEC.

He had also proposed the names of Nisar Durrani, retired Justice Abdul Rasul Memon, former registrar of the Sindh High Court, and Aurangzeb Haq as ECP member from Sindh.

For the office of the ECP member from Balochistan, he suggested the names of senior Supreme Court lawyer Shah Mohammad Jatoi, former advocate general Mohammad Rauf Atta and Raheela Durrani.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had proposed the names of retired Justice Sadiq Bhatti, retired Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi and Abdul Jabbar Qureshi for the post of the ECP member from Sindh.

For the office of the ECP member from Balochistan, the prime minister recommended the names of Dr Faiz Kakar, Mir Naveed Jan Baloch, a businessman and a former caretaker minister in the provincial government, and former district and sessions judge, Quetta, Amanullah Baloch.