ISLAMABAD – President Arif Alvi made two appointments to the Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday, drawing ire of the opposition, which complained it was not taken into confidence for the move.
Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui was appointed from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Khan Kakar was appointed as a member from Balochistan as per a notification issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
“In pursuance of paragraph (b) of clause (2) of Article 215 thereof, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to appoint the following persons as Members of the Election Commission of Pakistan,” read the handout.
The ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan — Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch — had retired in January and it was mandatory that the positions be filled within 45 days.
After the deadline expired, the prime minister sent three names for each of the vacancies to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif.
The premier had suggested the names of Amanullah Baloch, former district and sessions judge, Quetta; Munir Kakar, a lawyer; and Mir Naveed Jan Baloch, a businessman and former caretaker minister in the provincial government, as nominees from Balochistan.
The prime minister proposed the names of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui, a lawyer; retired Justice Farrukh Zia Sheikh, a former judge of the Sindh High Court; and Iqbal Mehmood, retired inspector general of Sindh, as nominees from Sindh, Dawn news reported.
Previously, the government had proposed the names of Dr Salahuddin Mengal, former advocate general for Balochistan; Mahmud Raza Khan, former additional advocate general for Balochistan; and Raja Aamir Abbasi, ex-deputy prosecutor general of the National Accountability Bureau, for their appointment from Balochistan.
Moreover, it had also proposed the names of Mohammad Nadeem Qureshi, ex-member judicial (judge of the customs appellate tribunal); retired justice Abdul Rasool Memon, former registrar of the SHC; and retired justice Noorul Haq Qureshi, a former Islamabad High Court judge from Sindh.
After the government’s suggested names, the opposition moved to amend its own list of candidates which included the names of three out of six nominees dropped, by the government.
The opposition had replaced the name of former chief justice Balochistan High Court Justice (retd) Noor Muhmmad Meskanzai with former Advocate General Balochistan Salahuddin Mengal.
As talks lingered on, no consensus could be developed as both the government and the opposition insisted on having a member of their choice from Sindh and giving the right to pick a member from Balochistan to the other.
The latest appointments have irked the opposition and PPP leader Khursheed Shah said that the appointments were illegal.
It is in violation of the Constitution, said Shah.
