Appoint a CEC

It is vital that the post of CEC is maintained and strengthened rather than enfeebled for political convenience.

The failure to fill a number of key positions in the administration is proving something of a blight for the federal government. Political foot-dragging is often the reason behind this, but it is to be hoped that the latest — belated — attempt to gather nominations for the post of chief election commissioner (CEC) is successful. The prime minister has asked the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly to move forward the process that the prime minister himself initiated in November 2013, thus far without resolution. Given the sensitivity of the post, and the perpetual storm that seems to rage around the election commission, it would seem to be a matter that requires resolution with the utmost urgency, and failure to do so is only going to fuel conspiracy theories.

Nominations are to be sent to the PM after consultations with all opposition parties and the opposition leader has committed to completing the exercise ‘as soon as possible’. The office of CEC is a constitutional post, one of the fundamentals of our somewhat blurred democratic dispensation, and thus should not be lying vacant for as long as it has. Currently the post is being ‘minded’ as per the constitution by the most senior judge of the Supreme Court but this is far from ideal. Senior judges are already busy people and the post requires a single dedicated individual. There have been 12 permanent and 11 acting chief election commissioners and the post is something of a political hot potato. What it requires is political independence and the power to act decisively and beyond political manipulation, a requirement that is probably far from the heart’s desire of virtually every politician in Pakistan, mainly because they see anything that cramps their profligate and corrupt style as highly undesirable. Article 213 of the Constitution is clear in terms of defining the process, and three names are to be forwarded to a parliamentary committee for approval. It is vital that these crucial offices of state are maintained and strengthened rather than enfeebled for political convenience. India has managed to do it — which should be a spur to Pakistan to achieve the same.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2014.

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