ISLAMABAD: The government and opposition on Tuesday agreed to appoint members of the Election Commission by July 25 and decided to exchange names of members on Thursday (tomorrow).
The decision was taken in a meeting between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah held at Parliament House for consultation on the appointment of members.
During the meeting, Khursheed Shah sought time from government for appointment of members due to the meeting of opposition parties on Wednesday. Both leaders agreed to share names of new members with each other in the next meeting.
It may be mentioned here that after the ECP was rendered incomplete with the retirement of its four members on June 12, the electoral process has been at halt across the country, including mayoral or deputy mayoral elections, bye-polls in various constituencies and notification of newly elected parliamentarians.
According to the constitution, government and opposition are bound to appoint ECP members within 45 days of their retirement.
Due to the non-appointment of new members, the Election Commission could not hold by-elections in 10 constituencies and local government elections in 22 constituencies of the country,
Talking to media, opposition leader Khursheed Shah said the meeting with Ishaq Dar remained cordial wherein names of members of the Election Commission were discussed. “I will convey these names to the government after consensus with other opposition parties,” he said, and added that another meeting with the government representative will be held on Friday. He said that he was looking forward to the next meeting to make headway on the matter.
To a question regarding any discussion over the Panama leaks, Shah said that the issue will be discussed at a later stage. He, however, maintained that the opposition won’t show any kind of flexibility on inquiry into revelations by Panama Papers.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the names of members of the Election Commission were discussed during the meeting. “According to constitution, we have time until July 25 to announce the names of the members of the Election Commission. Opposition will hopefully shortlist names of the candidates before the deadline,” he said.
The meeting took place days after Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali took notice over the delay in the holding of by elections due to dysfunctionality of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). PTI candidate in NA-63 Jhelum Chaudhry Fawad Hussain through his counsel Dr Khalid Ranjha had filed a constitutional petition under Article 184 (3) of the constitution, making the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), federal government and other contesting candidates respondents. The petitioner contended that both the federal government as well as CEC violated the constitutional duty and instead of putting in genuine efforts to provide opportunity to the citizens, preferred to postpone the elections for an indefinite time period, violating the law and the constitution.
In a related development, PML-Q President and former prime minister Ch Shujat Hussain held telephonic conversation with Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Senator Sirajul Haq and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Qureshi telephoned Shujaat and discussed with him proposed terms of reference (ToRs) for inquiry into Panama leaks. They also exchanged views on expected all-parties conference.
Shujaat telephoned Senator Sirajul Haq and felicitated him on performing of Umrah. Both leaders are expected to meet in Islamabad in next few days.
Shujat also telephoned Majlis Wahdatul Muslameen Secretary Raja Nasir Abbas and expressed concern that the government was not paying any attention to their problems and demands despite such a long sit-in.
