The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday dismissed the PTI’s references seeking the disqualification of its dissident members of the National Assembly.
To clarify, around 20 MNAs had joined the then Opposition ahead of the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan. Therefore, PTI took strict action against them and demanded their disqualification.
The PTI had filed references against MNAs Noor Alam Khan, Dr. Mohammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Nawab Sher Waseer, Raja Riaz Ahmad, Ahmed Hussain Deharr, Rana Mohammad Qasim Noon, Asim Nazeer, Amjad Farooq Khosa, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Syed Mobeen Ahmed, Sayed Sami-ul-Hassan Gillani, Mohammad Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo, Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan, Aamir Talal Gopang, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Wajiha Qamar, Nuzhat Pathan, and Javeria Zafar.
Read more: Supreme Court to decide fate of rebel PTI MNAs
As a result, ECP issued notices to the MNAs. Meanwhile, the defected MNAs said they did not resign from PTI. They also said they did not join any other political party.
الیکشن کمیشن نے پی ٹی آئی منحرف ارکان قومی اسمبلی کیس کا فیصلہ سنا دیا
ریفرنس خارج ، اتفاق رائے سے فیصلہ سنا دیا گیا
منحرف ارکان قومی اسمبلی کے خلاف ریفرنس ڈکلیریشن ائین کے مطابق ثابت نہیں ہوا
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) May 11, 2022
Fawad Chaudhry’s strong words
Earlier, Former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. He also suggested that the CEC should join PML-N. Moreover, PTI will file a reference against the CEC in the Supreme Judicial Council.
According to PTI, CEC’s Raja had gone to “extremes of impartiality and dishonesty” as he was not issuing a notification to unseat the dissident MNAs of the party.
Read more: PTI holds country-wide protests against ECP
Speaking to the media outside ECP, Fawad Chaudhry said PTI will file a reference against CEC in the Supreme Judicial Council. The PTI leader said the country’s biggest party [PTI] had lost trust in him [CEC].
“When the country’s biggest leadership, the biggest party loses trust in you, the respectable conduct is to resign,” Fawad Chaudhry said.
چیف الیکشن کمشنر کو چاہیے ن لیگ میں کوئی عہدہ لے لیں، فوادچودھری
— Dunya News (@DunyaNews) May 11, 2022
Moreover, Fawad Chaudhry regretted that ECP lacks members from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As result, is not representing around 70 percent population of Pakistan.
https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1524315399889866759?s=20&t=P44VZfAN0EaMjxaw-MD0IQ
ECP announces verdict
A three-member bench headed by the CEC reserved its decision earlier after hearing arguments from all sides — the PTI and the lawyers of the dissident MNAs.
During the hearing, the ECP rejected the request to accept any more records from PTI.
PTI’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry requested the court to provide a copy of the reserved verdict, saying that he will appeal against it. Subsequently, he maintained that the dissidents had opposed PTI’s request to provide more records.
Read more: PTI to challenge ECP delimitation of constituencies