Government recommends three names for Chief Election Commissioner post

• PM has approved names of ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, Fazal Abbas Maken and Arif Khan to be considered for the post.

As the tenure of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Sardar Raza ends today, the government recommended on Thursday three names for the post of the vacant seat.

As per local media reports, the government has recommended the names of current Election Commission of Pakistan secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, Fazal Abbas Maken and Arif Khan. These names have been forwarded after the approval of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On Wednesday, a 12-member Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of the CEC and Members of ECP comprising six legislators each from the treasury and opposition benches, met in the chair of Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari. However, the committee deferred the matter till next week on the pretext that the names of the new CEC and members would be announced together.

The opposition had approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday and requested the top court to pass an order to resolve ‘constitutional' crisis that may occur after the completion of Raza's tenure. The petition was signed by 11 members from the joint opposition.

Last week, in a letter to the premier, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had suggested three names for the CEC post. He recommended Nasir Mahmood Khosa, former ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani and retired civil servant Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar as qualified for the position of CEC.