Completion of ECP to pave way for NA, PA by-polls

ISLAMABAD: Completion of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) next week with the appointment of its four members will pave the way for by-polls for some national and provincial assemblies and election to the heads of the local governments in Sindh.

This exercise was suspended by the ECP on the ground that it has become incomplete after the simultaneous retirement of its members on June 13 and non-nomination of their replacements.

The most important suspended election was that of the mayor of Karachi that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) nominee Waseem Akhtar is sure to win hands down because of its dominance in the union councils. He was arrested three days back along with some political leaders after their interim bail was not extended by an anti-terrorism court (ATC).

On Thursday, Waseem Akhtar was remanded to police for questioning in some cases registered some time ago. However, his detention would not be a legal hurdle for him to contest the mayoral election. The MQM is so far sticking to its nomination. But some quarters are  staunchly opposed to his becoming the mayor of Karachi for their own reasons.

Another significant by-election will be held for a Jhelum seat of the National Assembly, which fell vacant after the incumbent MP belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) died a natural death.

After Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and leader of opposition Syed Khursheed Shah failed to reach a consensus on the four ECP members, they submitted their own lists, comprising 12 members each, of their recommended nominees to the bipartisan parliamentary committee to select four of them through consensus or majority vote. They met for a number of times over the past few days but could not come on the same page.

However, the job of the committee will become easy if it found some common names in the two lists. It appeared from what Dar and Khursheeid Shah stated that they have recommended some common names. They declined to divulge the identity of their choice aspirants. They seemed to have proposed some retired technocrats, retired bureaucrats and former judges of superior courts.

The 22nd constitutional amendment, unanimously passed by the parliament some two months ago, removed apprehensions of some opposition parties in the existing procedure of appointment of the ECP members and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

For the first time, even a technocrat can be appointed as CEC or ECP member. Technocrat has been defined as a person, who is the holder of a degree requiring conclusion of at least sixteen years of education, recognised by the Higher Education Commission, and has at least twenty years of experience, including a record of achievements at the national or international level.

Formula of draw, which was once applied to the Senate way back in 1985 when it came into being, will be introduced to the ECP members only once. For the first term of office of the four ECP members, the ECP will draw a lot as to which two of them will retire first after two and a half years.

The posts of the two members, who will retire as a result of the draw, will be quickly filled. However, the term of office of a member appointed to fill a casual vacancy will be the unexpired tenure of office whose vacancy he has filled.         This method has been applied to ensure continuity so that the ECP doesn’t become dysfunctional with the simultaneous retirement of all the members. This arrangement will go on in future, meaning following the first draw two members will keep automatically retiring after exhaustion of their remaining half term of two and a half years.