Govt, opposition agree to bring new names for CEC

ISLAMABAD (News) – After deadlock between the government and the opposition over the appointment of the Chief Election Commission (CEC), both the parties agreed to bring new names for CEC. The deadlock between both the parties over the appointment of CEC is coming to an end as it has been agreed upon to recommend new names. The sources said that the government and the opposition have withdrawn their earlier proposed names. Now they will recommend new names to the parliamentary committee in next few days. The sources also informed that a parliamentary committee meeting is likely to be held next week for the appointments of the CEC and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members. It added that the government has prepared an initial eight-name list for the CEC and their track records are being checked under scrutiny process. The sources further said that the government had earlier proposed the names of Babar Yaqoob Fateh, Arif Khan and Fazal Abbas Maken while the opposition had recommended Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar. Due to the deadlock, both the sides decided to bring new names for the post of CEC. Earlier, the opposition’s Rahbar Committee discussed the appointment of the chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan. Talking to the media after the meeting on Friday, Akram Durrani and Ahsan Iqbal said that the opposition is totally agreed, but the government cannot evolve consensus on any matter. “We are trying to get the matter resolved through the parliament and want the appointment of the people which cannot be criticized,” they said. Akram Durrani said that the government is so incompetent that it is not resolving the matters. “Public confidence in the ECP was damaged during the last elections. The opposition gave the names of the people having good repute,” he added. Ahsan Iqbal said that the government got an illegal work done by the President regarding the appointment of two members. PPP’s Farhatullah Babar, Nayyer Bukhari, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, ANP’s Mian Iftikhar and Hashim Babar also attended the meeting. The Rahbar Committee agreed to decide on the appointment of the chief election commissioner and the ECP members jointly.