Staff Reporter
Islamabad
An in-camera meeting of a parliamentary committee, formed to deliberate upon the appointment of the chief election commissioner and Election Commission of Pakistan members from Sindh and Balochistan, ended in Islamabad on Tuesday without any consensus between the government and the opposition.
Both the parties will meet on Wednesday at 2pm to take up the matter further.
Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari, who is also the chairperson of the committee, chaired the meeting. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan also participated in the huddle. According to details, the opposition in the meeting sought more time from the government for consultation. “The government and the opposition are going towards a consensus. The opposition has sought time for further discussion. We are expecting that a decision on this will be taken tomorrow as both sides want to cooperate,” said Mazari after the meeting.
“Discussions between the government and the opposition are still on. ECP is an important institution of the country and we have to select its members responsibly. We are aiming to make decisions on merit,” said Pakistan People’s Party leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
The committee on Tuesday considered nominations forwarded by the treasury and the opposition.
The custodians of the two houses of parliament on Monday had warned if the parliamentary committee fails to evolve a consensus on the makeup of the ECP Tuesday, then they would use their discretion and finalise names of members from Sindh and Balochistan.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and National Assembly Speaker Qaiser on Monday expressed their satisfaction over the progress made on the issue thus far. At the same time, they warned that if the Parliamentary Committee could not develop consensus, then they would pick out the names and send them to the president and the Islamabad High Court.
According to Article 218 (2B) of the Constitution, four members, one from each province, each of whom shall be a person who has been a judge of a high court or has been a senior civil servant or is a technocrat and is not more than sixty-five years of age, to be appointed by the president in the manner provided for appointment of the Commissioner in clauses (2A) and (2B) of Article 213.
Article 213 (2A) says: “The Prime Minister shall in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, forward three names for appointment of the Commissioner to a Parliamentary Committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person.”
