Nominations for parliamentary panel sought to pick ECP chief – Pakistan

• Opposition leader questions SIFC performance, condemns govt’s victimisation of political opponents
• Assembly clears bill approving lawmakers’ higher salaries

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said on Tuesday he had formally written to the government and opposition, seeking nominations for the parliamentary panel on appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The NA speaker disclosed this during the house proceedings while resp­o­n­ding to various points raised by Lea­der of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan. He said the parliamentary committee will be formed once the nominations were received.

Mr Sadiq, in response to Omar Ayub’s earlier remarks, said it was a decided in principle that no point of order would be allowed during the question hour. “We are following that strictly and will keep on following,” he remarked.

Earlier, speaking on a point of order, the opposition leader questioned the performance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, and sought to know the salaries, qualifications and output of the people working with the SIFC and details of investments brought to Pakistan by the council.

He said the National Assembly had been made redundant by the incumbent government, complaining that no response is given to his questions regarding the SIFC.

Omar Ayub said the government had given extension to CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja who, according to him, should have been tried under Article 6 for violating the Constitution over his failure to hold general elections on time and conducting highly controversial elections after an inordinate delay. The same was the case with two members of the ECP who had already completed their constitutional term.

The opposition leader reminded the speaker that he had written a letter to him calling for the formation of the parliamentary panel for the appointment of new CEC and ECP members. “The country cannot make progress unless there is an independent Election Commission and electronic voting machines (EVMs),” he added.

He alleged that then army chief retired Gen Qamar Bajwa had intervened to stop the use of EVMs in Feb 8 elections because their use would have made installing the ‘Form 47’ government impossible. He claimed that the agenda of the housecommittee on human rights had been changed under influence from some powerful outsiders and the National Assembly staff said they were under compulsion.

Omar Ayub said judges of the Islamabad High Court had also written letters about interference by officials of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs. He lodged a strong protest with the chair over repeatedly denying him the opportunity to speak in the house against parliamentary tradition.

He regretted that the worst kind of victimisation of political opponents was underway, adding that the Punjab police had raided the house of PTI MNA Aneeqa Bhatti, arrested her brother and her family’s land is still surrounded by the police team.

He said the Punjab police had also raided the houses of PTI MNAs, including Ahmad Chatta, Mobin Jutt and Osama Mela, and ransacked and destroyed households. “But the same police cannot face dacoits of slum areas.”

The opposition leader also alleged that PTI founder Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi had been convicted in fake Toshakhana cases.

Mr Ayub said no dialogue with the government was possible in the present circumstances. He said the IMF delegation, which is currently in Pakistan, also wanted to know whether there is rule of law in the country. He also belied the government’s claims of a reduction in inflation, saying the rulers would face thepublic wrath for making their lives miserable.

Salary raise

Days after members of the National Assembly received their enhanced salaries, the lower house of parliament passed the Members of Parliament Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill 2025 on Tuesday with a majority vote.

On Jan 26, the National Assembly’s Finance Committee, led by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, had approved an increase in the salaries of members of the lower house, raising them from Rs218,000 to Rs519,000.

The bill passed on Tuesday, with a minor amendment, seeks to empower the finance committees of both houses of parliament to determine the salaries of parliamentarians.

The bill was tabled by Romina Khurshid Alam, and Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar did not oppose the proposed legislation. The bill had already been passed by the Senate, but with the amendment, it will now return to the Senate for approval.

Despite their political rivalries, members from both the treasury and opposition benches showed rare unity on the issue of salary increases and other perks during a recent meeting of the NA’s Finance Committee.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025