Panel on ECP appointments reconstituted

Swati withdraws membership of the committee over reservations expressed by PML-Q

ISLAMABAD:

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has reconstituted the committee on appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), replacing federal minister Azam Swati with Senator Kamil Ali Agha of the PML-Q.

The decision was announced during Railways Minister Azam Swati’s press talk outside the Parliament House on Monday.

It comes after the PML-Q -- a collation partner of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf -- expressed its reservations over the government's decision to remove its member from the committee.

Senator Kamil Ali Agha had been earlier replaced by Azam Nazir Tarar of the PML-N, while Senator Taj Haider of the PPP had replaced Khalida Ateeb of the MQM.

Read Opposition gets equal share in body for ECP posts

The changes in the crucial panel tasked with the appointment of ECP members had met with strong obloquy from the joint opposition, with political rivals alleging that the government was tailoring the committee in its own favour.

During the media talk on Monday, Kamil Ali Agha maintained that as an ally of the ruling party, he wished to work with the government.

“We will ensure that we abide by whatever the decision is taken regarding the appointment of the members of the electoral watchdog,” he added.

The joint opposition, on 14 November, rejected the changes in the committee on the appointment of the ECP members, particularly the inclusion of federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Azam Swati in the panel.

In a letter written to the NA speaker, the opposition said it believed that issues of national interest, especially legislation with wide-ranging long-term impact on the people of Pakistan, should be resolved through consensus-oriented consultation.

The major beef of the opposition parties with the induction of Swati’s into the committee was due to his contemptuous remarks against the ECP and its chief, with opposition lawmakers bemoaning it as an inappropriate step "that showed the government’s intention to remain in confrontational mode with the ECP".