Joint opposition discusses names for appointment of ECP members

Joint opposition discusses names for appointment of ECP members

LAHORE (Dunya News) – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday has chaired meeting of joint opposition to deliberate on the appointment of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members. According to details, consultation on the names for hiring of two ECP members and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) was carried out with participants belonging to other political parties including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). On the other hand, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari presided over the meeting of Parliamentary Committee that concluded without deciding any name for the vacant ECP posts. The committee considered nominations for appointment of members of the ECP from Sindh and Balochistan forwarded by the government and the opposition. Earlier, PM Office had raised objections on the names recommended by opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner. The suggested names were Nasir Mehmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar. Jaleel Abbas Jilani remained principal secretary of former premier Nawaz Sharif and worked as chief secretary Punjab under CM Shehbaz Sharif. Nasir Mehmood Khosa is considered close to Sharif family and Akhlaq Tarar has also worked as federal secretary. Shehbaz Sharif maintained that PM Imran should have initiated this process of consultation a long time ago. I am starting this procedure to prevent the ECP from getting non-functional, the PML-N leader added. The letter by PML-N president also comprised three names each from Sindh and Balochistan for their nominations as the ECP members. From Sindh, the opposition leader had recommended Nisar Durrani, Justice (retd) Abdul Rasul Memon and Aurangzeb Haq. The names of Advocate Supreme Court Shah Muhammad Jatoi, former advocate general Muhammad Rauf Atta and Rahila Durrani were also proposed from Balochistan.