Meeting to pick ECP members remains inconclusive

The parliamentary committee on Monday held a meeting to choose the candidates for the two vacant posts (Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) of the Election Commission of Pakistan, but it remained inconclusive. The next meeting will be on November 17.

An in-camera meeting of the parliamentary committee was held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister Shireen Mazari.

The government nominated Raja Amir Khan as member Punjab and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan as member Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while the opposition nominated Tariq Iftikhar for Punjab and Sohail Altaf for K-P.

Government candidate Faridullah, K-P and opposition candidate Irfan Qadir, Punjab were disqualified as they did not match the age criteria.

Talking to media after the meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that all the names were discussed. “It is hoped that in the next meeting, the government and the opposition will decide on the names with consensus.”

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PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf told the media that CVs were reviewed by the opposition and the government. “There is an effort to decide on merit.”

PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said, “The candidates who were not technically qualified have been removed from the list.”

The names will be agreed in the next meeting, he said, adding that hopefully the differences would be resolved then.

The ECP members from Punjab and K-P retired on July 26. No written agreement was reached between the prime minister and the opposition leader.