Islamabad (December 13, 2017): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) summoned on Wednesday details of intra-party elections from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on a petition filed by a member of PTI against alleged irregularities in the elections.
An ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan heard the petition filed by PTI’s founding member, Yousuf Ali, on the alleged discrepancies in intra-party polls.
No one from PTI appeared before the ECP for the hearing. The ECP summoned details of results, candidates, and votes by December 18, 2017.
Ali, a former general secretary of the PTI’s Swabi chapter, had filed the petition before the ECP and asked the commission to declare the election null and void on the grounds that the polling process had violated the party’s constitution.
The case hearing has been adjourned until December 18.
In the last hearings, the petitioner’s lawyer told the ECP that the PTI had arranged fake intra-party polls in violation of the party constitution.
He said the elections were held on June 12 and the party had amended its constitution on May 13. The petitioner counsel said that the PTI had not completed the necessary legal formalities while amending the constitution.
He said the party’s constitution can only be changed if there is a two-thirds majority of the Central Executive Council supporting it. As per the amended constitution, 2.7 million voters had to decide between PTI Chairman Imran Khan or party leader Naik Muhammad Khan. No party member was allowed to choose anybody besides the two panels, the Insaf panel and the Ehtesab panel.
Babar Awan, the PTI’s counsel argued that the petition could not be heard by the ECP as intra-party elections could not be challenged via an election petition.
He said that the petitioner had nothing to do with the PTI’s intra-party elections and that the elections were held in a transparent manner.
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