ISLAMABAD: After months of deadlock, the government and the opposition have finally decided to appoint Sikandar Sultan Raja as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari told the media that the parliamentary committee on the appointment of the head of the electoral body and its members had reached a consensus on Sikandar Sultan Raja as new CEC. Similarly, the committee also agreed on Nisar Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi as members of the ECP from Sindh and Balochistan respectively, she added.
She said the decision would now be forwarded to Prime Minister Imran Khan for finalisation. Shireen Mazari said: “It is good that the parliament itself decided the matter and no other institutions were involved in the issue. Today’s decision is a much welcome one as the parliamentarians have taken a decision which was their responsibility.”
She added parliamentary matters should be decided by the parliament. “We should try to work in this manner in the future also,” she added.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah said Sikandar Sultan Raja was a honest and hardworking person and expressed the hope the ECP would be able to ensure transparency in the next general election.
While Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervez Ashraf expressed the hope the new members of the ECP and the CEC would fulfill their responsibilities with justice.
The post of the CEC had been lying vacant since the retirement of Justice (retd) Sardar Raza on December 6, whereas the positions of the two ECP members had been vacant for a year now.