CEC’s appointment: Panel’s meeting called off

Govt, opposition have decided to resume consultation

ISLAMABAD:

Government and opposition representatives have called off a parliamentary committee meeting, which was to finalise the name of a permanent chief election commissioner (CEC).

Representatives of both sides have decided to restart the exercise with new names, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Federal Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid confirmed the development and said both sides had decided to cancel the meeting after the major proposed nominee Justice (retired) Tassaduq Hussain Jilani refused to accept the position following Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s remarks.



He said almost all opposition and government allies had agreed to appoint Justice Jilani as the new CEC and in this regard they had called the committee’s meeting to approve his name.

He said the language that Imran Khan used in his Rahim Yar Khan rally was shameful and sent dangerous message to respectable and honest personalities. “Imran’s humiliating tone has forced Justice Jilani to refuse the post of the CEC,” he alleged.

“All parties had agreed on Jillani’s name but unfortunately he became a victim of Imran Khan’s baseless and derogatory language which disheartened him,” he said.

“Government and opposition have decided to restart their consultation process with fresh names but it will take time to reach consensus on new names,” Rashid said.

He said the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah – who is in currently in the UK – has also started consultation on new names via telephone.

“Shah will discuss with his party and will let government know,” he said. Rashid, however, did not give any clear timeline for completion of exercise of consultation between government and opposition parties. About the Supreme Court’s November 13 deadline for appointing new CEC, he said the whole situation and scenario would be presented to the court.

“The government on November 13 will apprise the Supreme Court about the latest development of consultation process between government and opposition and will seek more time for appointment of permanent CEC,” he said. Earlier, PM Nawaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah had forwarded two separate lists of proposed names to the parliamentary committee to select the CEC.

According to sources, the PM’s list carried the names of Justice (retd) Tasadduq Hussain Jillani and Justice (retd) Saeedul Zaman Siddique while Shah’s list carried names of Jillani, Justice (retd) Mian Ajmal and Justice (retd)Tariq Pervez.

The sources said Jilani’s name was common in both the lists and committee was assumed to select him. However, government and opposition on Tuesday withdrew their lists from the committee with mutual consent.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2014.