Opposition leader in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah earlier today proposed constitutional amendments for empowering the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and reducing the government’s term to four years.
In an informal interaction with the media representatives outside the Parliament House here, Shah said the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) should have authority. The present CEC’s role seems as if he is a mere member of ECP, he observed.
He said because it is a mandatory requirement that a CEC must be a judge limits the options. And in case no suitable judge is available then the appointment of a CEC becomes a tough task, he added.
Khursheed Shah proposed that an amendment be made in the Constitution so that a senior bureaucrat and/or a senior lawyer also becomes eligible for the CEC’s position.
He declared government’s constitutional term of five years as mother of all evils. Reducing its tenure to four years will resolve all issues, he stated.