Sikandar Sultan Raja takes oath as new CEC

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Sikandar Sultan Raja took oath as the new chief election commissioner (CEC) of  Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday. The oath-taking ceremony held at the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP). Chief Justice Justice Gulzar Ahmed administerd the oath to the new CEC. The oath taking ceremony held after 1pm at the Supreme Court premises. Many judges and lawyers attended the oath taking ceremony. Speaking to the journalists, Sikandar Sultan said that conducting free, fair and transparent elections is included his main priority. Earlier, Sikandar Sultan Raja has been appointed as the CEC for five years. The federal government issued notification showing appointment of Sikandar Sultan Raja as the CEC for five years. The reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is completed after appointment of Sikandar Sultan Raja. According to the notification issued by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Nisar Durrani from Sindh and Shah Muhammad Jatoi from Balochistan have also been recruited as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The appointments in the ECP come after, the Parliamentary committee, earlier this week, had reached consensus after prolonged talks. The name of Sikandar Sultan Raja was forwarded by the federal government. Earlier, parliamentary committee headed by Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari had named Sikandar Sultan Raja as new CEC. On Tuesday, after months of deadlock for appointments in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), a parliamentary committee announced Sikandar Sultan Raja to become the new CEC. After parliamentary committee meeting, Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mizari announced the name of new CEC and two members of the ECP. She said that the government and opposition agreed on the names of CEC and ECP two members. She announced that Raja Sikandar Sultan has been selected as the new CEC while they agreed on the names of Nisar Durrani for the ECP member from Sindh and Shah Muhammad Jatoi for Balochistan. Shireen Mizari also mentioned that Prime Minister Imran Khan is being informed about the decision.