Winds of change: Govt gives in to opposition pressure

ISLAMABAD: Reconciling to the changed political situation out of compulsion, the government has yielded to the pressure of the opposition and given it an equal say in the bipartisan and bicameral parliamentary committee on the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The government had unilaterally constituted the committee giving itself a lead of two votes. It had inducted seven of its MPs in the panel while it had taken in five opposition lawmakers. The composition had been devised in a manner that the government was able to easily get its preferred nominees approved as the ECP members.

Because of the lopsided numerical structure of the forum, the opposition boycotted its two scheduled sessions and demanded that it should have equal representation as spelt out in the Constitution.

The government resisted, but in the meantime, the overall situation significantly changed in the wake of different developments resulting its two consecutive defeats in the National Assembly on the same day, its postponement of the joint session of parliament and the distancing of its three allied parties, which compelled it to rethink and reconstitute the parliamentary committee so as not to further alienate the opposition.

As per the fresh structure of the forum, both sides have been given equal representation of six members, including its chairperson belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who can cast her vote only if there is a tie.

The government has now removed its four representatives – Shafqat Mahmood, Kamil Ali Agha of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Hidayatullah of the erstwhile tribal areas, Khalida Ateeb of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) -- from the committee. The two estranged ruling coalition allies (PML-Q and MQM-P) may not take the exclusion of their MPs lightly considering their present stance.

Instead, the government has inducted Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati and Senator Manzoor Kakar of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) while it has retained Dr Shireen Mazari, Pervez Khattak and Asad Umar.

On the other hand, two opposition nominees – senators Taj Haider and Azam Nazeer Tarar – have been opted for while four previous members - Raja Pervez Ashraf, Rana Sanaullah, Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Shahida Akhtar-- have been kept in the forum. Tahir Bizenjo of the National Party has been taken out of the panel. Earlier, only one PPP MP had been accommodated in the body while now it has two representatives.

A downside of equal representation will arise when there will be a deadlock as the two sides insist on selecting their respective preferences. The Constitution is silent on the way out of such an eventuality.

The ECP members from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had retired on July 25 after completing their terms. Their vacancies had to be filled in 45 days.

To start the process of choosing the ECP members, the prime minister had sent a letter to the opposition leader on Aug 26, proposing three names each for the ECP members from Punjab and KP. For Punjab, he had recommended Ahsan Mahboob, Raja Amer Khan and Dr Syed Pervaiz Abbas. For KP, he had suggested retired Justice Ikramullah Khan, Faridullah Khan (current chairman of the provincial public service commission) and Muzammil Khan.

In response, Shehbaz Sharif had rejected all these proposals and instead suggested in a letter on September 17 the names of retired Justice Tariq Iftikhar Ahmed, Muhammad Javed Anwar, retired Justice Mushtaq Ahmed, Khalid Masood Chaudhry, Irfan Qadir and Irfan Ali.

He had also expressed his displeasure that the government had not followed the Supreme Court’s ruling which required the premier’s “serious and meaningful” consultations with him. He had proposed the names after consultations with the leaders of other opposition parties, including the PPP.

The ECP members enjoy powers almost like the CEC under the Elections Act. Before the unanimous enactment of this law in 2010, the CEC used to have more authority than the ECP members. Now, the ECP comprises five appointees – the CEC and four ECP members.

Under the Constitution, the two consultees – the prime minister and opposition leader – are required to engage in consultations to evolve a consensus on the ECP members. If they fail, they are meant to forward three names for every ECP vacancy to the parliamentary committee for confirmation of one of them.