Selection of ECP members: Recommendations to go to parliamentary committee

ISLAMABAD: There is not a single common name in the lists of twelve nominees separately proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif for selection of two of them as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Sindh and Balochistan.

However, two names – Justice (R) Noorul Haq Qureshi and Justice (R) Abdul Rasool Memon - were going to be common if the recommendations earlier made by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Imran Khan’s behalf would have been valid. Qureshi’s list, sent to the opposition leader through a formal letter, became irrelevant after the premier suggested six different names to Shahbaz Sharif. The opposition leader has also included the names of Noorul Haq Qureshi and Abdul Rasool Memon in his three preferences from Sindh.

The recommendation of two same names - Qureshi and Memon – by the opposition leader and foreign minister, without any consultations whatsoever, showed the rare meeting of the minds. An agreement between Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif was going to be somewhat easy at least to fill up the Sindh vacancy, if the foreign minister’s proposed names would have been considered.

According to legal experts, the two consultees still have the choice and time to change their names any time before being sent to the 12-member bipartisan parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of two of them for Sindh and Balochistan vacancies.

Reservations expressed in the opposition leader’s letter over certain contents of the prime minister’s communication apart, the two documents have finally set in motion the constitutional process of picking up the two ECP members in a meaningful manner. Lawyers and retired high court judges dominate the list proposed by Shahbaz Sharif. There are three lawyers and an equal number of former justices.

A prominent figure, Barrister Khalid Javed, is conspicuous with his presence. He was appointed as the Attorney General of Pakistan by the outgoing federal caretaker government headed by Chief Justice (R) Nasirul Mulk. After its tenure ended, he excused himself to continue as the attorney general in the new government.

Khalid Javed is the son of ND Khan, a senior politician who also worked as the law minister during the second Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government. He served as the Advocate General for Sindh in 2013 as well as a member of the Privatization Commission of Pakistan from 1995 to 1996. He is a senior advocate who has appeared before the Supreme Court in a number of cases. He also worked in the office of the Attorney General during the tenure of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

During his appearances in TV programmes, he has been giving nonpartisan, balanced legal opinion despite his alignment with the PPP. During his comments, he has been demonstrating good knowledge of the Constitution and law.

For the Balochistan seat, the premier had proposed the names of retired Sessions Judge Amanullah Baloch, lawyer Munir Kakar, and businessman Mir Naveed Jan Baloch while his nominees for the Sindh seat included lawyer Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, former Sindh High Court (SHC) judge Farrukh Zia Sheikh and ex-Inspector General Police Iqbal Mehmood.

Before that, the foreign minister had recommended the names of Dr Salahuddin Mengal, ex-advocate general, Mahmud Raza Khan, former additional advocate general, and Raja Aamir Abbasi, ex-deputy prosecutor general of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for Balochistan. For Sindh, he had suggested the names of Mohammad Nadeem Qureshi, ex-judge of the customs appellate tribunal, Abdul Rasool Memon, retired justice and former SHC Registrar, and Noorul Haq Qureshi, former Islamabad High Court judge, having Sindh domicile.

Under the Constitution, all the names recommended by the two consultees will now be sent to the parliamentary committee which has equal representation of the treasury and opposition benches.

Some time back the committee was formed by Speaker Asad Qaisar. It is headed by Dr Shireen Mazari of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The PTI and its allies’ nominees include Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, Kashmir Committee Chairman Syed Fakhar Imam, Privatization Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, Senator Azam Swati and Naseebullah Bazai (independent).

On the other hand, the representatives of the opposition parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), PPP and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal - are Rana Sanullah Khan, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Mushahidullah Khan, Syed Khursheed Shah, Dr Sikandar Mandhro, and Ms. Shahida Akhtar Ali.