On Sunday, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan as “a player” in the plot to overthrow the country’s previous administration and said that it had been acting as a “servant” of the PML-N.
Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, the party’s central vice president, questioned the ECP’s role during the no-confidence motion against the former prime minister Imran Khan and the subsequent resignations of PTI legislators during a press conference alongside Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema.
He claimed that when 123 PTI MNAs confirmed their resignations by standing on the floor of the house, Qasim Suri was the acting speaker.
When Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was elected NA speaker, he personally selected the resignations of 11 members after speaking with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, according to Mr. Suri. “Those resignations were given [by Mr. Suri] to the ECP, but it slept on them,” he claimed.
He claimed that when 123 PTI MNAs confirmed their resignations by standing on the floor of the house, Qasim Suri was the acting speaker.
When Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was elected NA speaker, he personally selected the resignations of 11 members after speaking with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, according to Mr. Suri. “Those resignations were given [by Mr. Suri] to the ECP, but it slept on them,” he claimed.
He continued: “Mr. Ashraf forwarded those resignations and the MPs were also de-notified by the ECP. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition was certain that they would win from the 11 constituencies.
“You [ECP] sleep on the resignations when one speaker forwards them. They are accepted when sent by the opposite speaker without being verified.
Additionally, he cited a number of commission rulings and acts that he said supported the PDM.
He asserted that Sikandar Sultan Raja, the chief election commissioner, had rejected the previous PTI-led administration’s decision to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) to hold elections “without any justification, to forward the opposition’s agenda.”
The ECP opposed using technology for the Senate elections while also opposing the Supreme Court’s directives to extend voting rights to Pakistanis living abroad.
Mr. Chaudhry stated that only five polling stations had results that were in dispute at the by-elections held in Daska’s NA-75 constituency in February 2021, but the ECP deemed the entire election invalid.
Mr. Chaudhry criticised the commission’s decision to delay Sindh’s second round of local body elections, claiming that this was in striking contrast to the treatment accorded to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Punjab was questioned [by the ECP] on the reason for not holding the [local body] polls while KP wanted to postpone the polls owing to difficult weather, but the ECP denied it,” reads a statement from the ECP.
He continued by saying that Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, was correct when he described the ECP as “servants of the PML-N” and in collusion with the PDM since it works to advance their interests.
Mr. Chaudhry asserted that the commission had not delivered a thorough decision even after 48 hours because one member had failed to sign the order to disqualify Mr. Khan in the Toshakhana case.
He said that in addition to submitting the audio tape “in which the conversation was taking place to handpick 11 resignations,” he had also presented it in support of his party’s reference against CEC Raja before the Supreme Judicial Council.
He said that the PTI had already filed another reference against the ECP member from Sindh and asserted that the ECP member from Balochistan is ineligible to serve on the commission, casting doubt on the composition of the commission.
