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PTI intra-party polls ‘invalid’ in our eyes: CEC
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) intra-party elections were ‘invalid’ in the opinion of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). A hearing pertaining to petitions challenging the PTI’s intra-party elections took place at the ECP office, where PTI founding member and petitioner Akbar S Babar was […]
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) intra-party elections were ‘invalid’ in the opinion of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A hearing pertaining to petitions challenging the PTI’s intra-party elections took place at the ECP office, where PTI founding member and petitioner Akbar S Babar was also present. During the proceedings, PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar contended that, despite objections to the ECP’s directive for intra-party elections, Pakistan’s “largest political party̶1; must not be excluded from the elections. He emphasised that the ECP was supposed to certify the party’s elections within a week. As seven days have elapsed today, the election commission is obligated to issue the certificate promptly, he said.
Zafar argued that the election commission cannot treat the matter like a court case, arguing that the ECP’s identity as an electoral watchdog was at risk here. He referred to the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision from a day earlier, restraining the ECP from issuing an order in the case till the hearing of the application filed with it had concluded.
Raja countered that it was within the election commission’s jurisdiction to handle this case, urging the PTI lawyer to not hold the ECP accountable for mistakes his party committed. “For five years the PTI could not hold intra-party elections. The elections it eventually did hold are invalid in our opinion,” the CEC maintained. “Despite everything, the ECP granted PTI an opportunity to conduct intra-party elections,” he added.
ECP’s DG Law pointed out that the Islamabad High Court, in the MQM intra-party election case, designated intra-party elections as the election commission’s jurisdiction. Failure to conduct intra-party action by a political party is subject to action under the Election Act, he said. The election commission adjourned the hearing until December 14, instructing all petitioners to submit their replies at the next hearing. Previously, on November 23, the ECP ordered the PTI to hold intra-party elections if it wished to retain “bat” as its election symbol, warning that any deviation would render it ineligible to obtain any other election symbol for the upcoming general elections. However, the PTI’s recently-held intra-party elections were thrust into uncertainty after the ECP issued the party a notice on a plea seeking to have the polls declared null and void.
