Nasim Zaidi appointed Chief Election Commissioner

India’s President Pranab Mukherjee appointed the senior-most Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. He will take charge in the office on April 19^th, the day after incumbent Mr Hari Krishna Brahma retires.

Before India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his nine day three country tour (he is visiting France, Germany and Canada), there was a sense of urgency to appoint the next CEC. The Law Ministry had initiated the process to appoint the next CEC and by convention the senior-most EC was chosen for the post.

Once Mr Zaidi assumes his post, the government will expedite the process of appointing two Election Commissioners to complete the three-member body. An EC or CEC has a tenure of six years in the office or 65 years, whichever is earlier. Accordingly, Mr Zaidi shall be retiring in July, 2017. He is a 1976 batch IAS officer and has worked in the Civil Aviation Ministry of India for a long time.

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