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Deadlock continues between govt, opposition over Babar Yaqoob Fateh's CEC candidacy

lection Commission of Pakistan. Photo: FileISLAMABAD: The federal government and the opposition parties have reached an impasse over the appointment of the next chief of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), The News reported on Monday.  The government is adamant over getting the opposition parties to agree to the name of incumbent ECP Secretary Capt (R) Babar Yaqoob Fateh, as the next chief election commissioner, a senior opposition leader told the English daily.However, at least two opposition parties are not willing to accept the name of the ECP secretary since they have publicly alleged that high-ranking ECP officials were complicit in the alleged rigging of the 2018 general election.“We will be taunted and tantalised by our detractors about the collapse of our well-considered stand about the polls," the senior opposition leader said on condition of anonymity. A parliamentary affairs committee has been tasked with finalising potential names for the new chief of the ECP and forwarding them to Prime Minister Imran Khan for approval, pending discussions with the opposition. Under the Constitution, consultations between the prime minister and the opposition leader are necessary for the appointment of the election commissioner. If the two cannot agree on a name, a parliamentary committee takes over the matter. According to the report published in The News, opposition members have told the parliamentary panel overseeing the appointment that the government should either fill the CEC position by choosing one of the suggested nominees of the opposition, or let the opposition select one name from the CEC nominees suggested by the government. Attempts are also being made in the parliamentary body for a quid pro quo solution where the opposition could name the ECP members of their choice to represent Sindh and Balochistan, while the government could nominate the CEC of its preference.Apart from the CEC, two other members of the ECP are also to be finalised as part of the process. Sources say that the premier has suggested the names of Babar Yaqoob Fateh, Arif Khan, and Fazal Abbas Maken for the office of the CEC. Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, has proposed the names of former civil servants, namely Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Akhlaque Tarar and Jalal Abbas Jilani.Fateh is currently serving as the ECP secretary since May 15, 2015 and has held the position since the last parliamentary polls. He was due to retire as a civil servant in October 2015, a few months after his appointment. However, he was later given three-year contract/extension. Two weeks before his extended term was set to expire on Oct 31, 2018, the CEC had prolonged his stay by another 14 months.Khosa, on the other hand, was once nominated by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, but later dropped on the recommendations of some party leaders. This news piece originally appeared in The News

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