ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid has the support of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) for the post of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has given the stakeholders November 13 as deadline to appoint the new CEC, a post that has been vacant since August last year as Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim voluntarily resigned at that time from the post.
In their separate statement, the PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the JI leader Liaquat Baloch said that there is a need to reform the electoral system in the country because the present commission has failed and it is imperative that their mistakes are rectified.
A meeting was held between Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah on Friday, during which they discussed the appointment of the new CEC.
During the meeting, Qureshi informed Khursheed Shah that the PTI proposed the name of Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid for the office of CEC.
On the other hand, according to media reports, former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice (retd) Tariq Pervez Khan have emerged as the most likely contenders for the CEC.
The reports said that the two retired judges topped the list of five candidates whose names came under discussion at a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the opposing leader in Islamabad on Thursday.
Taking to media representatives in Islamabad on Thursday, Syed Khursheed Shah expressed the hope that within next two to three days the name will be finalized for the new CEC.
The opposition leader said that the CEC will be appointed with consensus.
