The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved its decision on the PTI’s request to stay the hearing in the intra-party polls case until the Supreme Court provides clarification regarding the reserved seats. A three-member bench of the commission, headed by the chief election commissioner, heard the case.
PTI’s legal team, including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Ayesha Khalid Advocate, and Uzair Bhandari Advocate, appeared before the forum.
Bhandari highlighted that the FIA had seized the entire record during a raid and mentioned that four applications had been filed since the original documents and electronic records were no longer available. He also noted, “You have seen the video; they even took away our water dispenser. However, if the ECP directs, the record can be obtained from the FIA.”
He further argued that the Election Commission had sent them a questionnaire, the first question of which pertained to the PTI’s current status. Bhandari emphasized that the answer to this question was addressed in the short order of the Supreme Court related to the reserved seats. He urged the commission to wait for the detailed decision of the apex court, while the Election Commission had already sought an explanation from the Supreme Court on the reserved seats.
The commission’s member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa clarified, “We have not made any request to the Supreme Court on the PTI’s new intra-party elections; we have rather asked whose party certificates should be recognized until the intra-party elections are recognized.”
Gohar explained that he had issued certificates to 39 members, which the ECP had recognized as PTI’s. He pointed out, “We did not accept the certificates but acted on the apex court order,” and stressed that the Supreme Court verdict was before the Election Commission, making it beyond their jurisdiction to decide the validity of the intra-party elections.
The Member Commission Sindh questioned, “What do you want now?” to which the lawyer replied that they wanted the Election Commission not to hear the case until a clarification or detailed decision from the Supreme Court on the reserved seats was received.
The PTI also challenged the Election Commission’s jurisdiction in the intra-party elections case, arguing that the scrutiny of such elections did not fall under the commission’s jurisdiction. Bhandari asserted that the Election Commission could only verify whether the intra-party elections were held or not and requested the commission to first decide on its jurisdiction.
DG Law maintained that the Supreme Court’s short order instructed the submission of party certificates for only 41 independent members without mentioning any specific party. He added that an independent member could join any political party.
Later, speaking to the media outside the Election Commission, Barrister Gohar stated that they had submitted documents to the Election Commission on March 8 after the third intra-party election, but to date, they had not received a certificate.
Gohar emphasized that PTI was a political party supported by people who believe in the ideology of its founder, Imran Khan. “We don’t need any symbol. We will make a clean sweep by fully participating in the local government elections of Islamabad, whereas the government is trying to postpone the elections,” he contended.
