Justice (r) Altaf Ibrahim takes charge as acting CEC

Justice (r) Altaf Ibrahim takes charge as acting CEC

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Senior member Justice retired Altaf Ibrahim on Friday has taken charge as acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the tenure of Sardar Raza ended. According to details, the government and position parties have not yet decided on the names of CEC and other two members of ECP from Balochistan and Sindh. On Thursday, the incumbent government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had recommended three names of current ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, Fazal Abbas Maken and Arif Khan for CEC post. On Wednesday, a 12-member parliamentary committee, under the supervision of Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, on Wednesday had deferred the appointment of ECP members for a week. 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.