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.
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.
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.
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.
