ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition have sent separate lists of 12 names each to the National Assembly secretariat after having failed to reach a consensus on four candidates for appointment as members the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

`We have sent the names of 12 candidates to the National Assembly secretariat. The names will be placed before the parliamentary committee on appointment of ECP members, which will meet on Monday,` Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said while chairing a meeting of the parliamentary committee on electoral reforms on Friday. He said the four members of the commission would be notified within the constitutional time frame.

The four members retired on June 10 and the law requires appointment of their successors within 45 days of their retirement.

July 25 (Monday) is the constitutional deadline.Without disclosing the names of 12 candidates proposed by the government, Mr Dar said these had been sent to the NA secretariat in a sealed envelope.

He said the lists would be before the media when the committee would take these up at its meeting on Monday.

A senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who is also a member of the parliamentary committee, told Dawn that the opposition had also sent a list of 12 candidates to the NA secretariat. He said the committee was told that the government and the opposition had submitted three names for each province (seat) and some of the names were common in the two lists.

On June 8, President Mamnoon Hussain approved the 22nd Constitution Amendment under which bureaucrats, government officers and technocrats are eligible for appointment as the chief election commissioner (CEC) and members of the ECP, in addition to serving or retired judges of the superior courts.

The amendment has set an age limit of 68 years for the CEC and 65 years for the ECP members.

Besides, two of the four ECP members will retire after completion of half of their five-year term througha draw, whereas the remaining two will complete their five-year term.

This cycle will continue like that of the Senate election.

Articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution outline the process of appointment of the CEC and ECP members, respectively. The prime minister, in consultation with the opposition leader, is required to forward three names for appointment to each vacant post of the ECP to the parliamentary committee for confirmation of any one person. In case there is no consensus between them, they will forward separate lists to the committee for confirmation of any one individual.

The 12-member parliamentary committee, headed by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, will now select the four ECP members on Monday after the government and the opposition failed to reach a consensus on the names in their monthlong consultations.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah on Thursday said they had fulfilled a `national responsibility` by holding consultations on the issue with great care as they did not want to repeat the past mistakes of appointing controversial persons to the important constitutional posts.