Shehbaz suggests 9 names for ECP posts

Opposition leader responds to PM’s letter of August 26

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has proposed six names for a vacant post of member Punjab of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and another three names for the post of member Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Shehbaz, who is also president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan in response to his letter of August 26, for filling the two vacancies.

The prime minister had suggested the names of Ahsan Mahboob, Raja Amer Khan and Dr Syed Pervaiz Abbas for ECP member Punjab, and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan, Faridullah Khan and Muzammil Khan for member K-P.

However, Shehbaz proposed the name of Justice (retd) Tariq Iftikhar Ahmad, Justice (retd) Mushtaq Ahmed, Khalid Masood, Javed Anwar, Irfan Qadir and Irfan Ali for the post of member Punjab. For member K-P, he has proposed the names of Syed Afsar Shah, Sardar Hussain and Sohail Altaf.

According to the constitutional provisions, the ECP comprises chief election commissioner (CEC) and four members – one from each province. The vacancy in the office of the commissioner or a member shall be filled within 45 days.

Under articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution, the prime minister, in consultation with the opposition leader, will forward three names for the appointment to the ECP to a parliamentary committee for confirmation of one name.

The parliamentary committee, constituted by the National Assembly speaker, draws half of its members from the treasury benches and other half from opposition, based on their strength in parliament, to be nominated by their respective parliamentary leaders.

In case, a consensus cannot be reached between the prime minister and the opposition leader, the law says that each will forward separate lists to the parliamentary committee for finalisation of names.