Acting CEC reshuffles top ECP officials as new head agreed upon  

ISLAMABAD: Acting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (R) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi on Tuesday reshuffled top officials in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as the treasury and opposition parties agreed upon the name of Sikandar Sultan Raja as the head of the election body, ARY NEWS reported.

The acting CEC Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi reshuffled seven top ECP officials in BPS18 to BPS-20. These officials included the Staff Officer to the Secretary ECP Naeem Ahmed, who is now appointed as district Election Commissioner Swabi.

Another official Aleem Shahab was appointed regional election commissioner Multan, Shareef Ullah as joint election commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and regional election commissioner Multan Shahid Iqbal appointed as a director finance analyst.

Earlier in the day, a parliamentary committee approved the name of Sikandar Sultan Raja as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

The consensus was made during a meeting of the committee headed by the Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari in Islamabad. The post of CEC has remained vacant since December 6, 2019, when Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza retired.

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The name of Sikandar Sultan Raja was forwarded by the federal government and agreed upon by the opposition parties represented in the parliamentary body.

The participants have also finalized names forwarded by the opposition including Nisar Durrani from Sindh and Shah Muhammad Jatoi from Balochistan as members of the commission.

The formula was suggested to the premier for the acceptance of the name for CEC from the government’s side and the appointment of two ECP members over recommendations of the opposition.