Imran Khan has to follow Constitution
Weeks after the expiry of the date for filling the posts vacated by two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan, there are still no meaningful consultations between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition because Prime Minister Imran Khan is not willing to interact with Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif. The delay in the appointments is affecting the efficiency of the ECP, which has a long list of activities for coming months that require immediate appointment of the members, including local government elections in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and cantonments.
According to Article 213(2) of the Constitution, “The Prime Minister shall in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, forward three names for appointment of the Commissioner to a Parliamentary Committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person.” In case there is no consensus between the two, each shall forward separate lists to the Parliamentary Committee for consideration which may confirm any one name. The Prime Minister first assigned the task to Foreign Minister Qureshi who is required to play no role in the appointments. The move was naturally rejected. The exchange of letters from the PM’s office and the Opposition Leader’s office shows Mr Khan is still unwilling to personally interact with the PML-N leader.
This reminds one of the months of wrangling between the ruling PTI and the opposition over the issue of the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) chairmanship. Finally, Mr Khan had to eat crow when the delay became a roadblock in the formation of parliamentary committees that are required to play a crucial role in legislation.
While in the opposition Mr Khan showed scant respect for constitutional bodies like the ECP. Now that he is in power, there is all the more need on his part to abide by constitutional requirements. Political leaders are expected to ignore their personal likes and dislikes while performing their functions as opposition legislators or government leaders. After welcoming turncoats widely known for corruption into the PTI, it is hypocritical to refuse to interact with an opposition leader against whom no corruption case has yet been proven. Instead of taking the issue to the courts, the two sides need to resolve it through talks at the earliest.