ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub for a meeting regarding consultations over the appointment of a chief election commissioner (CEC).
In a letter addressed to the opposition leader, the PM apprised that the term of the CEC as well as two other members of the ECP ended on January 26 but they have been continuing their duties under Article 215 of the Constitution.
Under Article 218, proposals for the CEC and members have to be sent to the parliamentary committee, the premier wrote.
The five-year term of CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja culminated on January 26, along with two other members of the Election Commission i.e., Nisar Ahmad Durrani (Sindh) and Shah Muhammad Jatoi (Balochistan).
The procedure for appointing the CEC and members of the Election Commission is explained in Article 213 of the Constitution, wherein the PM and the leader of the opposition send three names to the president by consensus.
If there is no agreement on the names, the prime minister and the leader of the opposition will send their respective names to the parliamentary committee after which the National Assembly speaker will form a 12-member parliamentary committee, having equal representation from the treasury and opposition benches.
The committee will send one name from these names to the president for approval after a consensus.
However, due to the deep political polarisation there had been no previous hint of contact between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly to deliberate on new names.
Omar Ayub and Senate Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz have already challenged the delay in appointing a new CEC in March earlier this year in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
