Gen Faiz Hameed got Sikandar Sultan Raja appointed: Nadeem Afzal Chan

In an interesting development, former Member National Assembly (MNA) Nadeem Afzal Chan has revealed that ex-spymaster General (retd) Faiz Hameed had influenced the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan in 2020.

Appearing on the Hum News programme FAISLA AAP KA, Nadeem Afzal Chan stated that the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, on the suggestion of General Faiz Hameed, appointed Sikandar Sultan Raja as CEC of the Election Commission Pakistan. 

“PTI initially approved the name of Fazal Abbas Maken for CEC, upon which all political parties, including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and PPP, had a consensus,” the former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Coordination said.

Chan stated that the government withdrew Fazal Abbas Maken's name for the CEC post following Maiken’s “refusal to fulfil the demands and needs” that were put forth by the former DG ISI General Faiz Hameed.

“I will remain free and fair in elections,” Afzal Chan quoted Maiken's reply to Faiz Hameed.

PTI government, on January 24, 2020, appointed Sikandar Sultan Raja, a retired bureaucrat, as Chief Election Commissioner for a five-year term.

Responding to General Faiz Hameed's demands that were put before Fazal Abbas Maiken, Chan specified that the demands were intended to “favour PTI in Form 47.”

Imran Khan then forwarded the name on January 15, 2020, in a letter to President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif. 

The then Premiere suggested the names of three former federal secretaries — Jamil Ahmed, Fazal Abbas Maken and Sikandar Sultan Raja.

However, former Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif proposed former Attorney General Irfan Qadir, Nasir Mehmood Khosa, brother of former chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa, and Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar, a former federal secretary, for the top poll body slot.

Nadeem Afzal Chan further stated that Imran Khan was also against the appointment of Babar Sattar and Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri as judges.