New election chief takes oath

The position that had been vacant for over a year was filled after three names were shortlisted for the post


Afp/web Desk December 06, 2014

ISLAMABAD: The new chief election commissioner (CEC), Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, took his oath of office on Saturday.

Raza, 69, a retired Supreme Court judge, was sworn in as Chief Election Commissioner by Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasir-ul-Mulk, the Supreme Court said in a statement on Saturday.

The position- which had been vacant for over a year- was filled after three names were shortlisted for the post on December 3.

Justice (retd) Raza, Justice (retd) Tanvir Ahmad Khan and Justice (retd) Tariq Pervez were the three candidates shortlisted for the post when Ishaq Dar -on behalf of the prime minister- and Khurshid Shah held discussions on Wednesday.

Months of procrastination and uncertainty came to an end  when the federal government finally appointed Justice Raza as CEC for the next five years.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had been without a permanent chief since the previous chief Fakhruddin G Ebrahim resigned in July last year after the Supreme Court ordered him to change the dates of the presidential election.

Ebrahim conducted the landmark May 2013 election, which for the first time saw the transition from one civilian government to another.

COMMENTS (3)

syed baqar ahsan | 9 years ago | Reply

If he is honest and selected on merit for a public office and then his first test will be how quickly he hold the local body's election which serves public interest but mostly probably he will be ditched by biased 4 members of ECP having bad reputation who are completely shafarishes of political parties and then 5th one is a 22 grade secretary as well.

Naeem Khan | 9 years ago | Reply

Congratulations to Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza, the nation is looking up to him and hopefully he will not disappoint them. Our prayers are with you justice Raza.

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