Information commissioner from civil society sought.

ISLAMABAD -- The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) has called on the government to appoint an information commissioner from the civil society.

The commissioner should be appointed in accordance with the criteria set out in Section 18(c) of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017with proven expertise in human rights and the right to information, the CPDI said.

In this regard, CPDI had earlier sent a letter to Marriyum Aurangzeb, the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, urging her to take necessary steps to ensure that the information commission is constituted with diverse perspectives from different segments of society.

CPDI is a not-for-profit registered civil society organisation working on the issues of Development, Peace and access to information in Pakistan.

'While the government appointed members of Pakistan Information Commission from bureaucracy and judiciary when it appointed Shoaib Siddiqui as Chief Information Commissioner and Ijaz Hussan Awan on January 10, 2023, CPDI believes that the inclusion of a member from civil society in the Information Commission is important to ensure that diverse perspectives from different segments of society are incorporated in the functioning of the Commission.

The Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 requires the government to appoint Information Commissioners through a transparent process in accordance with the criteria set out...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT