Sikandar Sultan Raja
سکندر سلطان راجہ
Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan
Assumed office
27 January 2020
Appointed byArif Alvi
Railways Secretary of Pakistan
In office
November 2018 – December 2019
Appointed byImran Khan
Petroleum Secretary of Pakistan
In office
18 April 2017 – 26 August 2018
Appointed byNawaz Sharif
Chief Secretary Azad Kashmir
In office
January 2016 – April 2017
Appointed byNawaz Sharif
Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan
In office
April 2014 – April 2015
Appointed byNawaz Sharif
Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab
In office
January 2012 – May 2012
Appointed byShahbaz Sharif
Personal details
BornBhera, Punjab Pakistan
Nationality Pakistani
SpouseRabab Sikandar
ChildrenAli and Hamza
ParentMajor Sultan Ahmed
OccupationCareer Bureaucrat

Sikandar Sultan Raja is a retired Pakistani civil servant who serves as the Chief Election Commissioner in office since January 2020.[1] He belongs to the Pakistan Administrative Service and is batchmates with Rizwan Ahmed, Hussain Asghar, Fawad Hasan Fawad and Jawad Rafique Malik.[2][3]

Raja retired from civil service in BPS-22 grade. He has the honor of having served at the top bureaucratic positions such as the Railways Secretary, Petroleum Secretary, SAFFRON Secretary, Federal Secretary Aviation and Chief Secretary of both Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.[4] Raja is the son-in-law of Saeed Mehdi, the former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Chief Secretary Sindh. Sikandar was appointed Chief election commissioner by President Arif Alvi in January 2020.[5]

Family

Raja's father remained a Major in Pakistan Army. Raja has four brothers and four sisters. The eldest brother by the name of Zafar Sultan Raja is a retired Colonel from Pakistan Army. The second eldest brother Mazhar Sultan Raja has an agrarian background. The third eldest brother is Azhar Sultan Raja who is a Civil Engineer retired as Chief Engineer from C & W Department (Punjab). The youngest brother Fakhar Sultan Raja is a CSP Officer who hails from Pakistan Police Service and currently posted as DIG Pakistan Motorways.

Raja’s eldest brother in law Nisar Ahmed Malik was a Mechanical Engineer and retired as Superintending Engineer from Irrigation and Power Department (Punjab). His second brother in law Nasrullah Ranjha was Additional Session Judge. His third brother in law Zafar Javed Malik was retired as Deputy Commissioner Faisalabad and his fourth brother in law Imtiaz Ahmed Dev was a CSP Officer from Inland Revenue Services (IRS) and retired as Commissioner from IRS.

He is also related to Amir Ali Ahmad Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Zohaib Ranjha Former SP Investigation (Lahore), Muhammad Ali Former DC Faisalabad, SSP Sarfraz Virk Former DPO Jhang and SP Bilal Zafar Former DPO Chiniot. Raja is the son-in-law of Saeed Mehdi; a former top bureaucrat who served as Principal Secretary to PM Nawaz Sharif. Raja's wife, Rabab Sikandar, is a serving Customs official.[6] Raja has two sons and one daughter.

Career & education

Raja was born in a village near Bhera in district Sargodha. He got his earlier education from government high school Bhera and later went on to do his FSC from Cadet College Hasan Abdal and then went on to King Edward Medical University to earn a bachelor's degree in medicine. He also did LLB from Punjab University. He was then inducted into the Pakistan Administrative Service and started off his career with his first post as Assistant Commissioner Islamabad in 1989.[7]

Raja has served on key positions, including Deputy Commissioner Islamabad and Punjab's provincial Secretary of Communications & Works (C&W), Services and General Administration (S&GAD), and Local Government before briefly serving as ACS (G) in Punjab. He has also served as Chief Secretary for the provinces of Gilgit Baltistan as well as Azad Jammu Kashmir. He remained as Director General Immigration and Passport under the administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.[8]

Raja was promoted to the rank of Federal Secretary in 2017. He served in the important position of Secretary Petroleum from April 2017 till August 2018. In November 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Raja as the Railways Secretary of Pakistan and Chairman Pakistan Railways.[9] He served as Railways Secretary and Chairman Pakistan Railways until December 2019.[10] In January 2020, Imran Khan appointed him to the all-important post of Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan.[1]

Allegations

Impartiality

Sikandar Sultan Raja is alleged to have shown the lack of impartiality in the election process. The Punjab Assembly on 31 July, 2022 passed a resolution against him and demanded his resignation as a chief of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). [11]

The resolution stated that: "The only way leading to the country's progress or to pull it out from the prevailing imbroglio is to hold fair and free election. This House relying upon the substantial evidences has its grave concern over the present Election Commission of Pakistan. This House also demands the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commission of Pakistan members to immediately resign so that all political parties could form the non-controversial and acceptable Election Commission of Pakistan which is the need of the hour."[12]

Appointment of Bureaucrats as Electoral Officers

For the first time in Pakistan's electoral history since 1985, Sikandar Sultan employed the services of the highly politicized[13] executive bureaucracy, particularly Assistant Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, in the key electoral roles of Returning Officers (RO) and District Returning Officers (DRO). Traditionally, these posts have been occupied by the lower judiciary of the country.[14]

On 14 December 2023, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of the Lahore High Court suspended the Election Commission's decision on the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that questioned the apparent bias of the appointed bureaucrats. [15] However, the next day, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, consisting of Qazi Faez Isa, Mansoor Ali Shah, and Sardar Tariq Masood, set aside this ruling and allowed the DROs and ROs to be notified from the bureaucracy, meanwhile stopping LHC from undertaking further proceedings on the petition citing over-reach of authority.[16]

On 30 December 2023, these ROs rejected a majority of the nomination papers filed by the leadership of PTI, including those of the party's chief, Imran Khan. PTI's general secretary, Omer Ayub Khan, termed the rejections as "pre-poll rigging".[17] The party vowed to challenge these rejections in the courts.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 "Sikandar Sultan Raja named new CEC | The Express Tribune".
  2. ↑ "AJK chief secretary Jalal Sikandar Sultan Raja transferred".
  3. ↑ "ECP - Election Commission of Pakistan". www.ecp.gov.pk. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  4. ↑ "Pakistan State Oil : Petroleum secretary opens PSO retail outlet - 4-Traders". 27 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "President Alvi formally appoints Sikandar Sultan Raja as CEC". theFrontierPost.com. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  6. ↑ "Rabab Sikandar assumes charge as Lahore I&I director".
  7. ↑ "Sikandar Sultan Raja appointed DG Passports". Abdalians.com. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Sikandar Sultan Raja". www.ppl.com.pk.
  9. ↑ "Establishment Division Notifies Promotion Of Officers".
  10. ↑ "Railways To Be Transformed Into Profitable Entity With Help Of Staffers: Minister". UrduPoint. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  11. ↑ "Punjab Assembly passes resolution against CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja". The News. 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  12. ↑ "Punjab Assembly passes resolution against CEC". The Express Tribune. 2022-07-31. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  13. ↑ Tanwir, Maryam; Fennell, Shailaja (2010). "Pakistani Bureaucracy and Political Neutrality: A Mutually Exclusive Phenomenon?". The Pakistan Development Review. 49 (3): 239–259. ISSN 0030-9729.
  14. ↑ Sheikh, Wajih Ahmed (2023-12-14). "ECP bans govts from transferring election officials". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  15. ↑ Report, Recorder (2023-12-15). "Bureaucrats' appointment as DROs, ROs: LHC suspends ECP notification". Business Recorder. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  16. ↑ Bhatti, Haseeb (2023-12-15). "SC suspends LHC order against RO appointments, orders ECP to issue election schedule tonight". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  17. ↑ "Ex-PM Khan aides decry rejection of election nominations, allege 'pre-poll rigging'". Arab News PK. 2023-12-30. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  18. ↑ Gabol, Imran (2023-12-30). "Rejections aplenty for PTI as scrutiny phase of nomination papers for elections ends". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
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