Justice (retired) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Shakirullah Jan, Tariq Pervez Khan and Mian Mohammad Ajmal are the four candidates under consideration for the CEC post.
Names of Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Rana Bhagwandas were excluded from the list after both rejected the nomination, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf nominee Nasir Aslam Zahid was also dropped from the list.
PM Nawaz, who has left for London to attend a conference on Afghanistan, will be in contact with Shah over the phone.
Earlier in the morning, Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk said the top court will consider issuing contempt of court notices to the premier and Shah if they fail to appoint a new chief of the poll body by December 8.
The CEC post fell vacant following the resignation of (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim on July 30, 2013 and apex court judge Justice Anwar Jamali is currently heading the poll body as its acting chief. Jamali, as per a previous court order, will stop working as interim CEC on December 5.
During the hearing of a case related to the appointment today, Attorney General of Pakistan Salman Butt assured the bench that the government and opposition will appoint a new CEC by December 8.
Appointment to the post have been delayed as PM Nawaz and Shah fail to agree on a candidate. Despite having several discussions, no name has yet been finalised.
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Chief election commissioner would never make a difference,he is at weak position in term of legislation,is it obligation that CEC would be from judiciary which always found week in term of management, millions of rupees are spent on CSP management group, they are medicine of which kind of disease, although considered as professionals in management.
@ishrat salim: That way the government will always get its own nominee elected, just like it does for the post of the president, and the whole purpose of choosing the CEC in a bipartisan way would be defeated because the opposition will never agree to such a choice. Besides, the post of the CEC is not a constitutional office, it's an administrative office. Parliamentarians can't be asked to vote on appointing a civil servant.
This is a most undignified and insulting process. It implies that both want some one who takes either side. Any person who accepts will start with a tainted profile for the rest of his life.
This is a joke. This issue should be amended in the constitution & selection of CEC judge should be through secret balloting in the Parliament...period.
Its such a shame that the SC is perceived as toothless.......and it appears to be a self inflicted malady.
Naming and counter-naming based on all the decisions a judge makes will never make everyone agree to a name - more so with the names out in the public domain to be discussed and PTI having it's own agenda.... the whole exercise smacks of a joke - seriously doubt if they can have a name agreeable to all by 05th Dec.