IT is about time the three gentlemen took their leave. The five-year terms of the chief election commissioner and the two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan representing Sindh and Balochistan expired on Jan 26 last year, yet the trio continue to serve well beyond their constitutionally mandated terms. This indefinite extension in their tenures, secured through a controversial constitutional amendment, has served no tangible national good. It has, instead, become a symptom of the deep, institutional rot in Pakistani democracy. However, with the recent appointment of a new opposition leader in the National Assembly, who is not only a stalwart of Pakistani politics but could also prove a much more reasonable counterparty for this government, there is an opportunity to start the process afresh. It could prove a test case for a fresh start between the government and the opposition.

It is most unfortunate that no substantive progress has been made in filling these important constitutional posts in the year since a reshuffle became due. While the Constitution envisaged fresh appointments within 45 days of a vacancy arising, this government, perhaps anticipating difficulties dealing with a PTI loyalist as opposition leader, had introduced a provision in the 26th Amendment allowing incumbents to continue in office till their successors were appointed. This ‘convenience’ gradually became a constraint, keeping stakeholders complacent rather than pushing them to take decisive action. The extended delay this has caused has only undermined the ECP’s legitimacy at a time when public trust in democratic institutions is already rock bottom. Pakistan’s electoral integrity depends on the credibility and effectiveness of the ECP. It plays a central role not only in organising elections but also in safeguarding the democratic process itself.

The constitutional mechanism for appointing the CEC and ECP members requires meaningful consultations between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. With a new leader of the opposition formally notified, a procedural obstacle that had been delaying progress has been removed. There is, therefore, no justification for further procrastination. The government and opposition must restart the appointment process with urgency, transparency, and good faith. Political bickering, in the form of demands for parliamentary committees or providing widely divergent nomination lists, should be eschewed in favour of consensus on candidates whose integrity, impartiality and administrative competence are beyond reproach. The ECP must be reshaped on the basis of a broad political agreement and respect for constitutional procedure. To delay this further will only allow narratives of institutional decay and political manipulation to take deeper root.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026