ECP submits response in IHC as deadlock with govt ensues over members' appointment

ECP contended that President Arif Alvi had violated Article 213 (a) and (b) of the Constitution.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – As a deadlock persists over the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday termed federal government’s appointments “unconstitutional” in a detailed statement submitted with the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoub Fateh, in a petition filed against the government’s decision, contended that President Arif Alvi had violated Article 213 (a) and (b) of the Constitution while appointing members of the ECP. Furthermore, the petition read that Article 214 contains the procedure of oath-taking of the members.

It mentioned that the oath could only be administered to those who were considered ‘appointed’ as members, and that the act of the president doesn’t fall under what is considered to be an “appointment.”

Thereby, the chief election commissioner retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza had refuted administering oaths to the members on August 23, and later the secretary of the parliamentary affairs was notified about it.

Importantly, the petition has also recalled verdicts of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) pertaining to the same issue, including a judgement rendered by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court in 2013, holding that the president does not enjoy discretionary power in appointment of CEC and ECP members.

The federal government had appointed two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from Balochistan yesterday.

Later, the CEC’s refusal to administer oath to the ‘unconstitutionally’ appointed members was termed ‘unconstitutional’ by the law minister, who argued that the CEC had no authority to examine validity of government notifications. However, the opposition parties praised the CEC for upholding the supremacy of the Constitution and the parliament.

Both the government and the ECP have been insisting on having a member of their choice from Sindh and giving the right to pick a member from Balochistan to the other.

In response, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati expressed his disappointment over the election commissioner’s move, saying that the ECP was one of the country’s most important institutions and it was necessary to fill the vacant slots.

“The government notified the appointment of the two ECP members in line with procedure laid out in the constitution,” he maintained.

“We are sure that there won’t be any crisis and the process of appointing the ECP members would be completed soon,” he added.

The appointments came seven months after Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and Justice (retd) Shakeel Baloch – the ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan – retired in January this year. Under the law, their successors should have been appointed within 45 days of their retirement.

The prime minister and the opposition leader in the National Assembly were supposed to consult each other within the deadline to reach a consensus on the new members.

However, after the deadline expired, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi proposed the names of Dr Salahuddin Mengal, Mahmud Raza Khan and Raja Aamir Abbasi from Balochistan and Mohammad Nadeem Qureshi, Abdul Rasool Memon, and Noorul Haq Qureshi from Sindh.

When the opposition expressed its reservations over the involvement of the foreign ministry in the matter, the prime minister proposed the names of Amanullah Baloch, Munir Kakar and Naveed Jan Baloch from Balochistan and Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, Farrukh Zia and Shaikh Iqbal Mehmood from Sindh.

In response, opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif wrote a letter to the government accusing it of violating Article 215(4) of the Constitution by delaying the process of appointment of the ECP members. He recommended the names of senior lawyer Khalid Javed, Justice (retd) Abdul Rasul Memon and Justice (retd) Noorul Haq Qureshi from Sindh and Salahuddin Mengal, Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Rauf Atta from Balochistan.

A bipartisan 12-member parliamentary committee on the appointment of ECP members considered six names – three each proposed by the government and the opposition leader.

However, the last meeting it held over a month ago ended in a stalemate.