Justice (retd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi becomes Acting Chief Election Commissioner
Islamabad … News Time
After the retirement of Chief Election Commissioner Justice (R) Sardar Mohammad Raza, Justice (R) Altaf Ibrahim took oath as Acting Election Commissioner. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) became inactive after the retirement of Chief Election Commissioner Justice (R) Sardar Mohammad Raza. A number of important activities, including scrutiny of electoral rolls, political party funds, have been completely stopped by the commission’s inactivity, a senior official said. However, any by-elections and by-elections have been halted.
According to the newspaper report, Justice (R) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi is the senior two incumbent Election Commission members, those who will take the office of the acting Election Commission today but do not have the authority to constitute a bench to hear any complaint, because by law, the bench should consist of 3 members. This means that objections and disqualification cases in the Election Commission will remain pending until the appointment of the new Chief Election Commissioner. A parliamentary committee to appoint ECP officials will be held on Tuesday. The names proposed by the government and the opposition for the Chief Election Commissioner and members Sindh and Balochistan will be considered.
On the other hand, Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza spent his last day in office in a unique way and National Voters’ Day, which is usually celebrated on December 7, was celebrated on Thursday and the Chief Election Commissioner also spoke on the occasion. In his speech, he said that under the Constitution, the Election Commission has the responsibility to take such steps to hold free, fair and transparent elections, that all political parties should have equal opportunities so that the rule of the Constitution can be established. Referring to the holding of constituencies and municipal elections in Sindh and Balochistan, he said that the Election Commission has taken several steps to fulfill this important responsibility in the last five years.
Sardar Mohammad Raza further said that under the 24th Amendment of the Constitution after the holiday census, in the beginning of 2018, the time for shortening of national and provincial assemblies was organized. Emphasizing the importance of flawless elections, he said that the ECP has installed a system of computerized electoral rolls in its provincial, regional and district offices. He also said that the process of registering voters at the address on the ID card is also in the final stages; Election Commission Secretary Babar Yaqub Fateh also spoke on the occasion.
