As days go by, it appears that Dr Tahirul Qadri’s bandwagon is swelling. Following in the footsteps of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Chaudhry Shujaat’s Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) joined forces with Qadri in his demand for the reconstitution of the Election Commission on Wednesday.
The controversy initially broached by the Minhajul Quran chief is gaining impetus with the inclusion of new players. Earlier this week, the PTI publicly demanded the removal of members of the election authority, a call which PML-Q joined on Wednesday.

“We have full confidence in the chief election commissioner himself. But we believe that the rest of the members of the commission should be re-appointed,” Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi was quoted as saying by a private TV channel. He also claimed that his party was the first one to question the appointment of these members to the commission.

PML-Q had expressed reservations over the credibility of the ECP earlier, during recently held by-polls in some constituencies of Punjab. But the party has now taken it a step further by publically demanding the removal of the members of the commission.The ECP is a constitutional body whose nomenclature was changed in the 20th Amendment. Comprising the chief election commissioner and four members – each representing a province, all the members hold some power in key decision making processes, similar to judges of a bench in the superior courts.

Under known constitutional provisions, none of these members can be removed unless he resigns or through a presidential reference to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).S M Zafar validates demand and provides legal remedyS M Zafar, former Senator and PML-Q’s legal wizard, provided legal reasons to substantiate his claim that the appointment of members of the commission was invalid. He also prescribed a legal remedy for their removal.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Zafar said Article 213 of the Constitution pertains to the election commission and its members. He said in the 20th constitutional amendment a new clause (A) was added to the provision that set the procedure of appointment of CEC and members to the commission.