ISLAMABAD, July 12: The Federal government and Opposition on Tuesday agreed to appoint members of the Election Commission by July 25 and decided to exchange names of members on Thursday.
The decision was taken in a meeting between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah held at Parliament House for consultation on the appointment of members.
During the meeting, Khursheed Shah sought time from government for appointment of members due to the meeting of opposition parties on Wednesday. Both leaders agreed to share names of new members with each other in next meeting.
Earlier, the parliamentary affairs ministry wrote a letter to the speaker of the National Assembly last month asking him to constitute a parliamentary committee for appointment of the election commission members, but it is yet to happen.
It may be noted that Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid was elected Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Members of Election Commission.
The first meeting of the committee was held here in which Parliamentarians including Arshad Laghari, Junaid Anwar, Shazia Mari, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Yousaf Talpur, participated.
This procedure would be adopted to ensure that all posts of the ECP members do not fall vacant at same time in future. According to Article 13-A and B of the Constitution, the prime minister is bound to send three names from each province to a 12-member Parliamentary Committee which will pick one name for appointment as ECP member from the respective province.
Four members of the Election Commission of Pakistan were retired on June 10. The retiring members are: Justice (retd) Roshan Esani (Sindh), Justice (retd) Riaz Kiyani (Punjab), Justice (retd) Fazalur Rehman (Balochistan) and Justice (retd) Shahzad Akbar Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). -DNA
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