Govt proposes CEC nominee

ISLAMABAD: While the government “informally and verbally” broached the name of a retired bureaucrat with the other side for the office of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif awaits a formal letter of Prime Minister Imran Khan, suggesting a penal of three nominees for the position.

“The government unofficially suggested the name of Sikandar Sultan Raja as one of its nominees for the slot of the CEC and we told it that we will take him into consideration when we will be formally conveyed it through a letter of the prime minister,” a senior opposition leader confided to The News on condition of anonymity.

Another credible source claimed that Imran Khan, deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) all agree on Sultan Sikandar Raja. “I believe consensus will be announced on his name when it will be formally taken up by the bipartisan parliamentary committee.”

Sultan Sikandar Raja, who recently retired as the federal secretary, is the son-in-law of former bureaucrat Saeed Mehdi. He generally enjoys a good reputation.

The opposition leader said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and other parties will be taken into confidence when the names proposed by the premier will be received.

The parliamentary committee has consistently failed in several meetings to reach an agreement on any name from amongst six nominees of the government and opposition parties. However, they have arrived at an accord on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members from Sindh and Balochistan. But the agreement has not been made public waiting for the consensus on the CEC.

The opposition leader said that it was possible that some names recommended by the two sides may be common. In such a case, it will be too easy to find a solution.

The post of the CEC fell vacant on Dec 6 rendering the ECP dysfunctional as two positions of the ECP members were yet to be filled up. These vacancies occurred in January last, and the government-opposition wrangling has been the major stumbling block in appointing the two members.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has given the federal government another 10 days to make the ECP appointments. It is constantly pushing the two sides to do their job and resolve the matter in the parliament instead of referring it to any other forum. Both have assured the IHC that they are working to work out an agreement.