ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza took oath as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for next five years in Islamabad on Saturday.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nasirul Mulk administerd the oath to him in a ceremony at the Supreme Court.
The oath taking ceremony was also attended by the Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers.
Justice (retd) Sardar Raza was appointed as the new CEC after President Mamnoon Hussain signed a summary sent by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday.
The parliamentary committee on the appointment of the CEC in its meeting held in Islamabad on Thursday morning agreed to appoint Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as new head of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Later talking to media, the committee Chairman Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Rafiq Rajwana said that the decision was taken unanimously by the members of the parliamentary committee.
Rajwana expressed the hope that new CEC will hold free, fair and transparent election when the time comes so that no one casts any doubts about the fairness electoral process.
The federal government and the opposition on Wednesday finalized three names including Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza, Justice (retd) Tariq Pervez and Justice (retd) Tanveer Ahmad Khan for the post of the new CEC.
The post of the CEC has been vacant since August last year as Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim voluntarily resigned at that time from the post.
