The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday approached the Supreme Court seeking its guidance on accepting the party affiliations of 41 returned candidates to the National Assembly in light of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lacking any organizational structure.
Submitted to the Supreme Court registrar through its secretary, Omar Hamid Khan, the ECP’s petition has sought a detailed version of the apex court’s July 12 order in which it had granted 15 days to PTI-backed independent candidates to express their party affiliation so the party could avail its share in reserved seats. Ahead of the expiry of the deadline, PTI’s lawmakers had submitted their affidavits of allegiance to the ECP, with Gohar Ali Khan listed as the party chairman.
However, the ECP’s petition has noted that in the absence of uncontested intra-party elections, the PTI lacks an organizational structure as per the ECP’s record. It stressed this was a “statutory obligation of every enlisted political party to conduct intra-party elections in terms of Section 208 of the Election Act 2017.” It further noted that the Supreme Court order had directed the PTI to confirm the affidavits of the MNAs and MPAs claiming its affiliation but the ECP could not do so without proper organizational structure.
Referring to the ECP’s records, the electoral body said Gohar Ali Khan was not authorized to serve as the party’s chairman. As such, it questioned the legal status of the PTI’s confirmation of the affidavits submitted by the lawmakers by an “unauthorized person” in the absence of “validly elected organizational bodies.” Referring to the court order, which had directed both the PTI and ECP to approach it for any guidance required to implement its verdict, the ECP said it needed clarification on the identified legal points.
Earlier, the ECP had notified 39 of the PTI-backed MNAs on general seats as PTI lawmakers. These lawmakers had submitted their affiliation with the PTI in nomination papers submitted for the polls. The 41 lawmakers in contention, however, had not disclosed any party affiliation in their nomination papers.
After losing its electoral symbol due to contested intra-party elections, PTI-backed independents had contested the Feb. 8 general elections as independents. The returning candidates had subsequently joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) in a bid to secure eligibility for reserved seats.
However, the ECP denied the SIC reserved seats, declaring it did not meet the requirements for a parliamentary party and had not submitted any list of candidates for reserved seats. In its ruling on an appeal against the Peshawar High Court upholding the ECP decision, the apex court had issued a majority verdict declaring the ECP’s order ultra vires of the Constitution and with no legal effect.
Both the PPP and PMLN, ruling coalition partners, have filed review petitions against the ruling, noting it seeks to “rewrite” the Constitution by granting “independent” lawmakers time not listed under any law to declare themselves affiliated with the PTI.