Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub for a meeting regarding consultations over the appointment of a chief election commissioner (CEC).
In a letter addressed to the opposition leader, the PM pointed out that the term of the CEC as well as two other members of the ECP culminated on January 26 but they have been continuing their duties under Article 215 of the Constitution.
Under Article 218, proposals for the CEC and members have to be sent to the parliamentary commit-tee, the premier wrote. It is pertinent to know that the five-year term of CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja ended on January 26, along with two other members of the Election Commission i.e., Nisar Ahmad Durrani (Sindh) and Shah Mu-hammad Jatoi (Balochistan).
The procedure for appointing the CEC and members of the Election Commission is explained in Article 213 of the Constitution, wherein the PM and the leader of the opposition send three names to the president by consensus.
If there is no agreement on the names, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition will send their respective names to the parliamentary committee after which the National Assembly speaker will form a 12-member parliamentary committee, having equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches.
The committee will send one name from these names to the president for approval after a consensus.
As per Article 217, upon the expiry of the CEC’s term, the senior member will assume the responsibili-ties of the chief election commissioner and in the event of his absence or vacancy, the senior member will assume these responsibilities.
The two other members of the electoral body have over two years to continue, as the term of the Election Commission Member (ECM) from Punjab Babar Hassan Bharwana will end on May 29, 2027, whereas the term of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa member Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan will expire on May 31, 2027.
However, due to the deep political polarisation there had been no previous hint of contact between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly to deliberate on new names.
The PTI has already moved the Islamabad High Court over the matter with Ayub and Senate Opposi-tion Leader Shibli Faraz challenging the delay in appointing a new CEC in March earlier this year.
The petition names the federal government, the Senate chairman, the National Assembly speaker, and the ECP as respondents.
The petitioners argued that the tenures of the CEC, as well as the ECP members from Sindh and Balo-chistan, have expired, and that the delay in fresh appointments is in violation of the Constitution.
The petitioners requested that the court maintain that the prime minister, the NA speaker and the Senate chairman have failed to discharge their constitutional responsibility.
It stated that the court should direct the NA speaker to constitute a parliamentary committee give the names of NA members, and direct the chairman Senate to send the names of senators to the speaker NA.
The petitioners also requested the court to issue directives to the prime minister to hold meaningful talks with the opposition leader under Article 213 of the Constitution, and that the court should de-clare illegal staying in posts by the CEC and members of the commission despite expiry of their consti-tutional terms.
