ISLAMABAD: Sikandar Sultan Raja will be appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

A consensus decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of parliamentary committee on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and the members of the Election Commission in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The meeting also agreed to appoint Nisar Durrani as member of Election Commission from Sindh and Shah Muhammad Jatoi as its member from Balochistan.

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Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said it was a matter of great satisfaction that the parliament settled the matter with consensus. She said the names would now be forwarded to Prime Minister Imran Khan for ratification.

On Nov 29, Opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif had recommended three names for the post of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to PM Imran Khan.

Shebaz had recommended the names of Nasir Mahmood Khose, Jalil Abbas Jilani and Akhlaq Ahmad Tarar through a letter sent to the premier on November 25.

In the letter, Shehbaz had informed the PM that the incumbent CEC Justice (retd) Sardar Raza’s term will cease on December 6. He had also reminded the PM that two posts for Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members are already empty.

The former chief minister had told the premier that under Section 3 of the Elections Act, 2017 it is a requirement to that an ECP Bench must have at least three members, with or without the CEC.