Born in Gujrat India, Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim donned the enviable coat of Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan at 84 years of age, in July 2012. A peace activist, interim justice minister, judge, Supreme Court lawyer, former Governor of Sindh, founder of the Citizen’s Police Liaison Force (CPLC), Ebrahim’s resume is extensive as it is extraordinary. The 24th CEC, Ebrahim often came under fire during his year-long, but tumultuous and often contentious responsibility of holding free and fair elections in the country. In April 2013, Ghulam Bilour named the CEC, COAS, the President, and the CJP as directly responsible parties for the safety and security of his party’s candidates, as the ANP came under fire from extremist elements.
A man notorious for his fearlessness, he refused to take fresh oath under General Zia-ul-Haq’s PCO in 1981, took on allegations made by Australian cricket players while conducting a formal inquiry on behalf of the PCB, and fought against “the encroachment into the domain of the ECP by the apex court”, when the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the ECP to hold presidential elections a week ahead of schedule.
Much like democracy, free and fair elections in a country like Pakistan, which saw its first civilian transfer of power in 2013, is a slow process that will take time, patience and men like Ebrahim at the helm of the ECP. He retired in July 2013, four years ahead of his official retirement in 2017, affording the new parliament the opportunity to choose a new CEC.
