Court suspends ECP members
Islamabad (4th Nov, 2019): Islamabad High Court has suspended the presidential notification on the appointment of two new members of the ECP.
Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Khan Kakar from Balochistan.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the matter should be resolved before the retirement of the chief election commissioner on December 7.
Such cases should be decided in Parliament, said Justice Minallah. If Parliament stops functioning then both the government and opposition will be held responsible, he warned.
The judge asked about what happened when the National Assembly speaker and Senate chairperson were notified about the matter. A representative of Parliament House told the court that three meetings have been held. The case hasn’t been discussed because of the current law and order situation in the country, he said.
Siddiqui and Kakar were appointed on August 22. The two posts had been vacant since January 26, after the retirement of Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and Justice (retd) Shakeel Baloch. The law requires the posts to be filled in 45 days but President Arif Alvi appointed the two members after seven months.
However, the electoral body did not administer the oaths to them, claiming that their appointments were unconstitutional. The opposition had criticised the step taken by the president too. Since then, a deadlock has been continuing between the government and the opposition over the matter.
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