Parliamentary committee meets to discuss appointment of ECP members

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is currently underway at the Parliament House, ARY News reported on Tuesday..

The committee is discussing nominations for the appointment of members of the ECP from Sindh and Balochistan forwarded by the treasury and the opposition.

The government and opposition have forwarded their nominations for appointment of ECP members to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjarani.

Subsequently, they forwarded these nominations to the Parliamentary Committee for consideration.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Imran Khan has responded to letters sent by the NA speaker and Senate chairman, recommending names for vacant seats of members of the election commission.

Read more: Shehbaz writes letter to Speaker NA, Chairman Senate on ECP members nominations

Justice (Retd) Sadiq Bhatti, Justice (Retd) Noorul Haq Qureshi and Abdul Jabbar Qureshi were recommended for ECP member from Sindh and Dr Faiz Kakar, Naveed Jan Baloch and Amanullah Baloch for a member from Balochistan.

On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif in a letter to Speaker National Assembly and Chairman Senate, had also proposed three names each for the members of election commission from Sindh and Balochistan.

The two seats of ECP members fell vacant after Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch — the commission’s members from Sindh and Balochistan — were retired in January this year.

The government was required to appoint their successors within 45 days of their retirement.

The delay was caused by a lack of consensus between the government and opposition on the appointment of ECP members as meetings of a parliamentary committee comprising members from both sides ended in a deadlock.