ISLAMABAD: A much-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah on the issue of the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) is scheduled to be held on Monday.

The two leaders had set the date for their meeting during a telephonic conversation on Friday. The meeting will coincide with the fourth deadline set by the Supreme Court to fill the key constitutional office which has been lying vacant for over 16 months.

When asked what new names he had to propose, Mr Shah said he would like to disclose them only during the meeting with the prime minister.

He said both sides were facing a great difficulty in finding a suitable candidate because of a constitutional bar that the CEC must be a retired judge of higher judiciary. “Now we will have to look for a young 78-year-old man for the post,” he said in a lighter vein.

But he expressed the hope that they would succeed in resolving the issue which, he said, had already been delayed and they did not want to annoy the apex court.

In reply to a question, the opposition leader said he had not received any notice from the court and, therefore, would not be going to the SC when it took up the matter on Monday. He said his meeting with the prime minister was scheduled in the afternoon.

After the expiry of the third deadline on Nov 25, the court had set until Dec 1 for the appointment of the CEC and said it would withdraw on Dec 5 its judge Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali who is officiating as CEC.

Earlier, the court had set Oct 28 and Nov 13 and 25 as deadlines for the appointment of chief election commissioner.

But the issue remained unresolved because after a meeting on Nov 6, both the prime minister and the leader of opposition went abroad and could not hold direct consultations.

If no new names are suggested by either side on Monday, former Supreme Court judge Justice Tariq Pervez Khan will remain as the only candidate after an elimination process that has knocked off five others on different reasons.

Sources in the government and the opposition told Dawn that efforts were still being made to persuade former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani who had declined to accept the post after criticism by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan.

When asked about the possibility of appointment of Justice Tariq Pervez, the opposition leader said he could only say that his name was still under consideration.

Both the government and the opposition have blamed Imran Khan for delay in the CEC’s appointment.

Mr Shah said no person was willing to become the CEC because he did not want to see himself in any controversy.

Information Minister Pervez Rashid had alleged that whenever they reached a consensus on a candidate, the PTI chief started abusing him in his speeches at his Islamabad sit-in and party’s rallies in other cities.

The issue of CEC appointment suffered a blow when retired justices Jillani and Rana Bhagwandas – the two persons on whose names the government and the opposition had almost reached an agreement – declined to accept the post.

Earlier, the leader of opposition had rejected the government’s nominee, retired Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, and the prime minister the opposition’s nominee, retired Justice Mian Ajmal.

Rejecting all the names suggested by Mr Sharif and Mr Shah, the protesting PTI had proposed the name of retired justice Nasir Aslam Zahid. But the government and the opposition gave a cold shoulder to the PTI’s proposal.

Published in Dawn, December 1st , 2014