ECP to hear PTI intra-party polls case tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has fixed the intra-party election case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Inasf (PTI) for hearing on Wednesday (tomorrow).

The hearing will resume on the heels of the Supreme Court ‘reprimand’ of the electoral body for non-implementation of its July 12 judgement in which it had declared the PTI eligible for the reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies.

The recent clarification by the apex court was in response to the ECP’s August 7 petition, requesting the SC to review its July 12 short order which, according to the commission, ‘granted relief to the PTI’, as neither the party nor its purported candidates had approached the ECP, Peshawar High Court, or the Supreme Court to claim the reserved seats for women or non-Muslims.

The ECP had rejected outright fresh applications, filed by the PTI in a case regarding its intra-party polls on the previous hearing on Sept 6. The PTI, through four applications, among other things, had questioned the commission’s jurisdiction to look into internal elections of a party and sought stay of the hearing till the SC issued its detailed verdict in the reserved seats case.

In its 10-page order, which was authored by its Sindh member Nisar Ahmed Durrani, the Election Commission rejected all four pleas and asserted that the commission had the powers to regulate the intra-party polls and that the matter was lingering on and could not be delayed anymore.

Separately, the ECP will take up for hearing the intra-party elections case against Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF) the same day. Towards end of August, the JUIF had sought time from the electoral body for completing its intra-party elections following the expiry of the respective terms of its office-bearers on July 7 this year.

The commission, during a previous hearing, was told that the phase-wise party polls were already under way in the provinces, whereas these will be followed by the polls exercise at the federal level.