ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel approved on Tuesday new eligibility criteria for appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and decided to meet next week to finalise the proposed bill in this regard for its submission to the National Assembly.

The bill likely to be tabled in the assembly next week seeks amendments to seven articles of the Constitution relating to the ECP. The passage of the bill will do away with the mandatory requirement of drawing CEC and four ECP members from the judiciary and create room for appointment of senior government officers and technocrats to the positions.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. It reviewed the amendments, particularly focusing on rules and regulations for appointment of CEC and ECP members.

The decision to amend the eligibility criteria was taken a month before the retirement of incumbent members of the ECP, leaving many to wonder if the process of their replacement would be completed without any gap because last time it took 14 months.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that under the amended scheme, a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a person qualified to be judge of the apex court or a senior government servant or a technocrat could be considered for CEC post.

At present the CEC is appointed under Article 213 of the Constitution and its Clause 2 reads: “No person shall be appointed to be Commissioner unless he is, or has been a judge of the Supreme Court, or he is, or has been a judge of a high court and is qualified under paragraph (a) Clause 2 of Article 177 to be appointed as judge of the Supreme Court.”

And for the appointment of members of the commission, one member each is taken from four provinces. Under the amended scheme, a retired judge of the high court or a senior government officer or technocrat could be considered for appointment as member of the ECP.

The law minister said that as a one-time exercise, two members of the ECP would retire after two and a half years while the other two after the next two years.

He said there was a broad agreement on all the proposed amendments, adding that the committee would meet on Monday to finalise the proposed bill and during the intervening time all political parties would firm up their inputs for any change in draft amendments.

In July last year, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah had suggested to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that the Constitution should be amended to end the present restriction that the CEC should be a retired judge.

The CEC was earlier appointed by the president, but after an amendment to Article 213 of the Constitution, the prime minister is now required to forward three names to a parliamentary committee for confirmation of one of them after consultations with the opposition leader.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs had last month written a letter to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, asking him to constitute a parliamentary committee to finalise the names of four ECP members, but that committee is yet to be formed.

Articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution outline the process of appointment of CEC and ECP members, respectively.

The prime minister, in consultation with the opposition leader, is required to forward three names for appointment to every vacant position of ECP “to a parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person”. In case there is no consensus between the prime minister and the opposition leader, they will forward separate lists to the committee for consideration and confirmation of any one individual.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2016