Election commissioner’s retirement: Hunt for new election chief may stir hornet’s nest

PM and leader of the opposition are unlikely to agree on the three candidates.

ISLAMABAD:

As the chief election commissioner’s retirement draws nearer, with no sign that the process to select his replacement has started, another showdown between the opposition and the government seems to be in the offing.

The non-extendable three-year tenure of Justice (R) Hamid Ali Mirza, the current CEC, is due to end on March 16, two weeks after the Senate elections, which are scheduled for March 2.

The choice of Justice Mirza’s successor will be tricky business, as the opposition and the government have equal say in the appointment procedure under the new laws.

The next CEC, whose tenure will last five years, will be appointed through a parliamentary committee having equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches. Agreement on a name is likely to be contentious in the precarious political situation, keeping in mind that the new office bearer will be in charge of overseeing the next general elections.

The opposition parties have already voiced their doubts that the government will appoint a suitably neutral candidate for the position.

Following the 18th Amendment, Article 213 of the Constitution states that the prime minister, in consultation with the opposition leader in the National Assembly, will propose three names for the position of CEC to a parliamentary panel.

This committee will have a maximum of 12 members, with equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches. The panel will be tasked with examining the candidates and then endorsing one name.

In the case that both the PM and the leader of the opposition are unable to reach a consensus, each will forward his own list to the panel, who will in turn choose one name from the six names presented. It does not require much imagination to assume this would not come easily.

The Election Commission of Pakistan is already locking horns with the Supreme Court, which last week ordered it to finalise new electoral rolls by February 23. The ECP is also unhappy with the fact that the SC has slapped a stay order on by-elections being held until the completion of new error-free electoral rolls.

Opposition parties have already been pressing the government to make the election commission a truly independent body. The appointment of an impartial commissioner would be a first step to achieving this, they argue.

Mushahidullah Khan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz information secretary, told The Express Tribune that parties inside parliament and also those which boycotted the 2008 general elections would have to be taken into confidence before the nomination of a new CEC. He said the government has not yet contacted the leader of the opposition – the PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan – in this regard.

Since the office of the CEC is a constitutional post it cannot remain vacant. In case of a vacancy an acting chief election commissioner – a serving judge of the Supreme Court – is appointed by the chief justice for a temporary period.

Those within the PML-N do not seem to be overly concerned with the approaching retirement of the incumbent CEC. According to the party, if this happens, the apex court will appoint a temporary chief before a suitable name is finalised.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2012.