- Constitution violated by delaying appointments, say petitioners.
- Chief election commissioner, two ECP members’ terms expired.
- NA speaker, Senate chairman named respondents in petition.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, who are the leaders of the opposition in the National Assembly and the Senate respectively, have filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging the delay in appointing a new chief election commissioner (CEC) and two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), The News reported..
The petition names the federal government, the Senate chairman, the National Assembly speaker, and the ECP as respondents.
The petitioners argued that the tenures of the CEC, as well as the ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan, have expired, and that the delay in fresh appointments is in violation of the Constitution.
The petitioners requested that the court should maintain that the prime minister, the NA speaker and the Senate chairman have failed in discharging their constitutional responsibility.
It stated that the court should direct the NA speaker to constitute a parliamentary committee and give the names of NA members, and direct the chairman Senate to send the names of senators to the speaker NA.
The petitioners also requested the court to issue directives to the prime minister to hold meaningful talks with the opposition leader under Article 213 of the Constitution, and that the court should declare illegal staying in posts by the CEC and members of the commission despite expiry of their constitutional terms.
