Sikandar Sultan Raja to take reins at Election Commission.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government on Tuesday nominated Sikandar Sultan Raja as the new chief election commissioner (CEC) after the opposition agreed on his name on Monday following a prolonged deadlock over the issue.

Announcing the decision, Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari said that the consensus between the government and opposition is a positive development and both sides should aim to work in this manner in the future. 'Parliamentary matters should be decided by the parliament,' she added.

She also said that the parliamentary committee has also reached consensus on the remaining appointments in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and had agreed on the names of Nisar Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi as members from Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.

On Monday, the government and opposition reached consensus on Raja's appointment as the new CEC after Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif agreed on his name from the three names proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan a few days ago.

Raja Sultan Sikandar will replace Sardar Raza Khan, who retired as the CEC after completing his term on December 6, 2019. He recently retired as a 22-grade officer after holding the post of chief secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). He also served as a secretary in various federal ministries and was once the director of the...