Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja said on Tuesday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party elections were ‘invalid’ in the opinion of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
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 party” 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, 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 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.
