ISLAMABAD: The government plans to introduce in the National Assembly on Friday a bill apparently aimed at removing a legal hitch in the proposed appointment of retired Justice Rana Bhagwandas as new Chief Election Commissioner.
A highly-placed government source confirmed that the bill was being introduced in the assembly after a consensus reached between the ruling PML-N and the opposition PPP on the appointment of Mr Bhagwandas.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmed will move the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) Amendment Bill 2014 seeking amendment to the FPSC Ordinance 1977, which bars reappointment of any member or chairman of the commission in services of Pakistan, according to the agenda issued for the session on Friday -- the last day of the current NA session.
Clause 5 of the FPSC ordinance titled “Ineligibility for further appointment” reads: “On ceasing to hold office, a member shall not be eligible for further employment in the service of Pakistan.”
Since Mr Bhagwandas, who was appointed as acting chief justice of Pakistan during the judicial crisis in 2007, has served as the FPSC chairman after his retirement from the Supreme Court, he is ineligible for future appointment in the services of Pakistan.
The source said the proposed bill would allow reappointment of the former FPSC chairman only to constitutional office whereas the bar on his reappointment in other services would stay.
Sources in the government and the opposition said the PPP and the PML-N had agreed that the bill would be passed on the same day without having been referred it to the committee concerned after suspending the normal rules of business. The consensus was reached during a meeting between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah on Thursday, they added.
The office of the CEC fell vacant when retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim resigned in July last year amid allegations of rigging and irregularities in the general elections levelled by almost all political parties.
Justice Ebrahim was the first man to be appointed as the CEC after the passage of the 18th Amendment under which the tenure of the office was increased from three to five years.
The CEC was earlier appointed by the president but under Article 213 of the Constitution, the prime minister in consultation with the leader of opposition is required to forward three names to the parliamentary committee for confirmation of one of them.
The committee headed by Senator Rafiq Rajwana of the PML-N is expected to meet next week to consider the names for the appointment of CEC.