ECP members: Shahbaz rejects PM’s nominees from Sindh, Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting the names proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif Tuesday wrote a letter to the prime minister recommending three names each from Balochistan and Sindh for appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Imran had suggested the names of Amanullah Baloch, ex-district and sessions judge, Quetta; Munir Kakar, a lawyer; and Mir Naveed Jan Baloch, a businessman and a former caretaker minister in the provincial government, for their nomination from Balochistan and of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, a lawyer, retired Justice Farrukh Zia Sheikh, a former judge of Sindh High Court (SHC), and Iqbal Mehmood, retired inspector general Sindh, from Sindh.

In his letter, written in response to the prime minister's earlier correspondence suggesting names for the posts, Shahbaz recommended the names of Shah Mohammad Jatoi, Chief Justice (R) Muhammad Noor Meskenzai and Muhammad Rauf Ata from Balochistan and of Justice (R) Abdul Rasool Memon, Khalid Javed and Justice (R) Noorul Haq Qureshi from Sindh.

Last month, in a letter sent by the PM Office to Shehbaz, PM Imran had suggested names for appointment of two members of ECP from Sindh and Balochistan. An earlier letter sent by the office of the foreign minister had been rejected by the opposition, terming it a violation of the Constitution as consultation was mandatory between the prime minister and opposition leader on appointment of the ECP chairman or its members.

In a four-page letter to Shahbaz, Prime Minister Imran Khan had invited him for consultation on appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), seeking his response in writing.

In his letter, Imran had rejected Shahbaz’s objections and allegations that the government was violating the Constitution by delaying the finalisation of names of ECP members from Balochistan and Sindh.

“Written consultation is surely preferred,” wrote Imran in the letter. “I again stress your good self to participate in the consultative process by giving your views in writing. In case you do not participate in the consultative process, the people of Pakistan and I shall have no option but to presume that you are evading the legal process, in which event further rights shall be reserved,” wrote the premier.