Justice Sardar Raza Khan appointed as new CEC after PML-N, PPP, MQM, ANP agree on his name for the slot in parliamentary committee meeting without PTI’s say in the affair
A day ahead of the deadline set by the Supreme Court (SC) to fill the key constitutional office which has been lying vacant for over 16 months, the parliamentary committee on Thursday unanimously agreed on the name of Justice (r) Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
On the recommendation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain has notified the appointment and a notification in this regard has been issued. Khan is expected to take oath of his new office on Friday (today).
Earlier, the parliamentary committee head Senator Rafiq Rajwana of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday.
During yesterday’s meeting of the committee, the Awami National Party (ANP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML-N agreed on the name of Justice Sardar Raza.
PPP’s Islamuddin Shaikh proposed Khan’s name for the post and Senator Haji Adeel of the ANP seconded it. MQM’s Farooq Sattar also agreed with the name along with committee members belonging to the PML-N, which led to the unanimous selection.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahryar Afridi did not attend the committee meeting. PTI MNAs have refrained from attending meetings of the parliamentary committee since legislators from the party tendered their resignations at the peak of the Islamabad sit-ins in August.
Justice Sardar Raza Khan, who has been serving as the Chief Justice of Federal Shariat Court, retired as judge of the Supreme Court in 2011. The 69-year-old was among the judges of the apex court who had refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) after the imposition of emergency by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2007.
Justice Khan, who belongs to Abbottabad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was also a member of the bench headed by former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry which gave a decision in the famous NRO case. He was the only member who gave a “partial dissenting note”.
Similarly, while hearing a petition challenging the PCO, Justice Khan was also not in favour of issuing contempt of court notices to the judges who had taken oath under the PCO.
The appointment comes as the Supreme Court had warned the government it would withdraw its judge Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on December 5 who had been officiating as acting CEC.
Earlier, the court had set October 28, November 13 and November 25 as deadlines for CEC’s appointment, however the issue remained unresolved. After a meeting on November 6, both the prime minister and the leader of opposition went abroad and could not hold direct consultation. Both sides blamed PTI chief Imran Khan for the delay in the appointment, saying every candidate wanted to save himself from any controversy because of the PTI chairman’s criticism of previous nominees.
