Sikandar Sultan Raja will be appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). A consensus decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of parliamentary committee on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and the members of the Election Commission in Islamabad on Tuesday
Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 21st January, 2020) Sikandar Sultan Raja will be appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). A consensus decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of parliamentary committee on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and the members of the Election Commission in Islamabad on Tuesday.The meeting also agreed to appoint Nisar Durrani as member of Election Commission from Sindh and Shah Muhammad Jatoi as its member from Balochistan.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said it is a matter of great satisfaction that the parliament settled the matter with consensus. She said the Names will now be forwarded to the Prime Minister.After several months of back and forth about key appointments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the government and opposition have decided to name Sikandar Sultan Raja as the new Chief Election Commissioner.The minister added that the parliamentary committee had also reached a consensus on the remaining appointments to the ECP and had agreed on Nisar Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi as members from Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.
Mazari added that decision will now be forwarded to Prime Minister Imran Khan."Today's decision is a much welcome one. Parliamentarians have taken a decision which was their responsibility. Parliamentary matters should be decided by the parliament," said the minister while announcing the decision. "We should aim to work in this manner in the future," she added.The meeting of the parliamentary committee took place at the speaker's chamber under the chairmanship of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar.
Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem also participated in the meeting.Speaking to the media, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said: "Sikandar Sultan Raja has worked with us for an extended period of time in Punjab. He is an honest, hardworking and decent human being. I hope that now the ECP is able to ensure transparency in the next general elections."Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf added that he hoped that all three of the new appointees are able to do justice to the job.
MNA Shahida Akhtar Ali stated that all three of the names were approved without any opposition. "Consensus on appointments to the ECP is a win for both politicians and the parliament."The move comes a day after Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif sent an amended list of the opposition's nominees to the government.The only amendment in the opposition's list of three nominees was the addition of former attorney general Irfan Qadir in place of former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani. The other two names were the same Nasir Mehmood Khosa, brother of former chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, and Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar, a former federal secretary.
