ISLAMABAD - Leader of opposition Syed Khursheed Shah is likely to meet MQM leadership in a couple of days to discuss a suitable nominee for the post of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
The opposition leader, busy these consulting almost all opposition parties, has expedited the process to share final names with the government to appoint the CEC.
Sources said that MQM might share its own names for CEC with Khursheed in this consultative process.
However, MQM senior leader Nasir Jamal said that their party would decide this matter in its coordination committee meeting. “MQM Rabita Committee after meeting with Khursheed would either decide to give its own name or not,” he said while talking to The Nation here on Thursday.
When contacted, Khursheed was optimistic to fill the vacant CEC slot this month after consultation with opposition parties. “Yes, I would consult MQM in coming days to seek their suggestion on CEC,” said he said.
Shah, a couple days before, had also met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to discuss the appointment of top vacant position of CEC. Both of them also reached a consensus to resolve this pending matter as soon as possible after the consultation with other opposition parties.
The government sides ostensibly took interest in the appointment of CEC after the criticism from main opposition parties. As, leader of opposition Shah had also written a letter to the prime minister a couple of days before asking him to immediately appoint a regular CEC in the country.
The office of CEC has been vacant since Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim resigned in July 2013. The government and opposition factions could not reach a consensus for the appointment of CEC due to some legal hitches.
The sources said that the opposition parties had also accused the PML-N government of delaying the process. This criticism has prompted the government to expedite the process and fill the vacant post, they added.
Observing this impasse, the Supreme Court had set a deadline, which also expired on March 19 last.
The incumbent government had also made an attempt to pave the way to appoint Rana Bhagwandas for the post and had got passed ‘The Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2014’ in the Lower House. But, this move also remained fruitless and matter is still pending.