PTI urges ECP to issue decision on intra-party elections

ISLAMABAD:

As the date of the general elections approaches, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday to issue a written decision on intra-party elections.

A meeting between PTI’s legal representatives and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja took place where the political party shared their concerns regarding the forthcoming general elections on February 8.

The PTI delegation, which included Barrister Gohar Ali and advocate Babar Awan, urged ECP to issue a decision regarding intra-party elections and also talked about obstacles impeding their election campaign.

Following the meeting with the CEC, Barrister Gohar addressed the media and shed light on the discussions and requests put forth during the 45-minute session. He emphasised that the PTI legal team presented a charter of demands to the commission.

Gohar highlighted several key points discussed during the meeting, especially about the challenges faced by PTI in conducting meetings and printing flags and banners. He said that there are several hindrances in their election campaign and hence, they’ve requested a notification from ECP to enable a fair and just electoral process.

Read PTI can run election campaign, PHC rules

The legal team also voiced concerns about the caretaker government allegedly releasing funds, a move that they claimed was beyond their authority.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the election symbol order for PTI had not been released as yet.

Gohar further added that ECP has committed to ensuring that the bat mark remains associated with PTI and clarified that the Chairman of PTI Imran Khan will not be excluded from the electoral process. He stressed that the ECP holds a constitutional responsibility to maintain a level playing field for all political parties involved.

Earlier this month, the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said that the impression of exoneration from the charges related to May 9 violence after addressing a condemnatory press conference was not true, stressing that anyone’s acquittal would be determined by courts.

In an interview with a private television channel, the prime minister said that getting rid of the charges once “you get implicated in an FIR [first information report]without going through the legal process” was not possible.

Read more May 9 accused will ‘not contest polls’

However, he assured that the caretaker government would ensure a level playing field for all the political parties in the coming elections. He said that all the political parties were allowed to hold rallies as no additional laws were in place to disrupt gatherings of any party.

He said the political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), were free to field their candidates and contest the polls. “The caretaker government will ensure level playing field for all the parties.”

It should be noted a trial against Imran involves allegations of misusing a diplomatic cypher. He is currently detained at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, having previously been in Attock jail after a conviction in the Toshakhana (gifts repository) case on Aug 5.

Imran was arrested on May 9 by NAB on charges of corruption related to the Al-Qadir Trust. He asserted that the cases against him were fabricated, vowing to prove his innocence.