ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee during a meeting on Monday finalised four names for appointment as members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The parliamentary committee formed to appoint the chief election commissioner and ECP members nominated Justice retd. Shakeel Ahmed Baloch as the ECP member from Balochistan, retired federal secretary Abdul Ghaffar Soomro from Sindh, Justice retd. (Mst) Irshad Qaiser from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Justice retd. Altaf Ibrahmi Qureshi from Punjab, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid told media personnel on Monday.

Awami National Party Senator Daud Khan Achakzai abstained from voting on the appointments, claiming his party was not consulted, while Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Shireen Mazari abstained from voting on the ECP posts for Punjab and KP.

The Supreme Court had earlier this month asked the government to honour its constitutional mandate by appointing personnel to the vacant posts within a stipulated period of 45 days, which ends on July 27.

The bench had taken a suo motu notice of the ECP becoming non-functional since the commission was unable to perform duties assigned to it under the Constitution and the electoral laws because of completion of the term of four of its members.

Four ECP members retired on June 12 and the law requires appointment of their successors within 45 days of their retirement.

The parliamentary committee that nominated the members include Law Minister Zahid Hamid, Senator Mir Kabir Ahmed Shahi, Senator Islamuddin Shaikh, Senator Daud Khan Achakzai, MNA Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, MNA Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari, MNA Dr Darshan, Nawab Yousaf Talpur, Ghulam Mustafa Shah, MNA Shireen Mazari and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.

A summary will be forwarded to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today. The final notification decision rests with President Mamnoon Hussain.