CEC appointment: SC rejects request to extend deadline for one month
Shortlisted candidates had to step down in wake of irrational opposition, says Attorney General.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Deadline given for the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by the Supreme Court ends today whereas government and the opposition failed to have consensus over any name.
Attorney General on Thursday appeared before the court to request extension for CEC’s appointment which was rejected by the court.
Supreme Court s judge would be withdrawn if CEC does not get appointed by November 24, says SC.
A 3-member bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk commenced the case hearing of CEC’s appointment.
He said both PM and opposition leader are out of country, consultation would resume after they return.
He asked the court to grant extension till end of December with assurance that consultation would be done by then. SC denied extended the deadline as per request and advised to review PM’s schedule for foreign visits before PM leaves for his next visit.
CEC would have been appointed, if the process would have started earlier, CJ added.
AG said two names were shortlisted for the post but they received irrational opposition, the nominees had to therefore step down.
After Justice (Retd) Rana Bhagwandas and former Chief Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jillani declined the offer, consultation is being carried over Justice (Retd) Tariq Pervez. None of the political parties have yet opposed this suggestion.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) had given the name of Justice (Retd) Tariq Aslam. Government and opposition leader could not have an agreement over his name.
Prime Minister and opposition leader would recommend 3 names each to the parliamentary committee in case none of the names get agreed upon. The committee would finalize name for CEC within 14 days.
The deadline for appointment of CEC at first was October 28 that was revised and extended to November 13 after opposition leader Khursheed Shah’s request.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said that appointing the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) as per the Supreme Court’s deadline of November 13 is not possible, adding that the appointment can take 7 to 10 more days, Dunya News reported.
Addressing a press conference, Dar said the government never talked about including members of country’s premier intelligence agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) in judicial commission to be formed to probe alleged rigging in general elections 2013. He said the new debt was added in order to pay the previous one.
The Finance Minister said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is in constant contact with the Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khurshid Shah and despite that, he said, the CEC appointment until Thursday is not possible.
He said six names would be sent to the parliamentary committee if the government and the opposition leader don’t agree on three names.
Ishaq Dar said that the appointment can further take seven to ten days.
Dismissing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s claim, Dar said that the government never proposed inclusion of members of ISI and MI in the judicial commission to probe the alleged rigging in general election 2013.
He further said that no money was paid to Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri to end his sit-in protest.
The minister said that the politics of sit-ins has caused the economy ‘irreparable loss’, claiming that the national payment responsibility was also compromised and that new debt was taken on to pay the previous one.
