SC extends deadline to appoint new CEC until Nov 24
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk on Thursday asked the AGP to appoint new CEC latest by November 24 or else the Supreme Court will withdraw Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali as acting chief election commissioner.
During Thursdays’ hearing, AGP Salman Aslam Butt said both the government and opposition were in agreement over three names. But, since two of the individuals nominated had expressed their reservations and refused to take charge, the consultation had to be restarted.
In the meantime, the AGP added, PM Nawaz Sharif left on a foreign trip, whereas Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah is leaving the country for a medical check-up.
Hence, Butt requested the court to give more time to complete the process.
In response, the chief justice inquired as to why a CEC was not appointed in the time the post remained vacant.
Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, another member of the bench, asked the AGP to check the PM’s schedule of foreign trips because he may leave again soon after Shah returns.
When asked by the bench to provide a definitive timeline for the CEC’s appointment, Butt said that the selection is expected to be finalised by November 24.
The court thus granted an extension in the deadline till November 24, and warned the attorney general that if the process was not completed by then, the government should be ready to face the consequences.
This is the second time that the apex court has extended its deadline for appointing a permanent CEC. Earlier, on October 14, it had given the government a two-week deadline.
The bench had also been approached by leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on October 28 to delay the deadline by three month. However, the court had rejected his plea and asked the government to complete the process by November 14.
Justice Jamali is the third consecutive interim chief election commissioner in less than one year.
Previously, Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and outgoing CJP Tassaduq Hussain Jillani have performed duties as the acting CEC.
Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ebrahim, who was appointed as the 13th CEC, had resigned on July 30, 2013 – a day after the presidential polls were held.
The election commission was accused of failing to ensure an impartial presidential election.
SC recommends K-P try biometric system in one district
The bench, while hearing arguments on local government elections, recommended that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government introduce biometric system in one district as a pilot project in the upcoming local government elections.
The apex court observed that if the pilot is successful, only then it should be expanded to the rest of the province. The CJP added that during his time as the CEC, they had experimented with the biometric system first in Peshawar and then in Islamabad in which a number of shortcomings were outlined including incomplete Nadra records preventing verification of thumb impressions.
The CJP further noted it will cost around Rs1 billion to introduce the biometric system across K-P, and will take a lot more time than expected.
The court though directed the Additional Advocate General K-P Zahid Quraishi to get fresh instructions from relevant quarters regarding the induction of biometric system in the upcoming local body polls.
However, the court expressed its desire that local government polls should be held in the province till spring 2015.
Regarding LG polls in cantonment areas, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti submitted that matter was pending in the National Assembly regarding the amendments in Cantonment Act 1924, adding that the commission will be empowered to hold the polls in cantonment areas after those amendments.
The bench has asked the federal government to complete legislation process as well as frame the rules for holding of local government polls in cantonment areas until December 1.
Issues related to the LG polls in Sindh and Punjab provinces will be taken up in the next hearing, said the Supreme Court.
ECP report on local government polls in K-P
The election commission submitted its report in the court on Thursday, which said that if the biometric system is to be deployed across K-P, the forthcoming local body elections may have to be delayed till September 2015.
The ECP added that the use of biometric devices should not become a reason to delay the polls – a mandatory constitutional obligation.
“The ECP is ready to announce the election schedule for LG elections in K-P by using a normal procedure in identification of voters, and it is therefore requested... the Election Commission announce election schedule in the last week of April 2015, without applying biometric system,” says the report filed by the election commission.
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