Fraudulent
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took a significant step on Friday by issuing a notice to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in response to a petition filed by the party’s founding member, Akbar S Babar. The petition, challenging the legitimacy of PTI’s intra-party polls, alleged “rigged/fraudulent PTI intra-party elections” and urged the electoral authority to order the party to conduct fresh polls.
The intra-party elections held in Peshawar to determine new officeholders, including a replacement for former chairman Imran Khan, resulted in Barrister Gohar Khan being voted in by party members. However, Babar, along with other dissatisfied party members, refused to accept the election results and promptly filed a petition with the ECP, citing irregularities in the electoral process.
The petition, endorsed by 14 PTI members, emphasized the absence of a pre-election schedule, the non-release of voter lists, and a lack of activity in the PTI central secretariat related to the elections. Babar and his associates argued that the intra-party polls did not comply with the law and the party constitution, urging the ECP to nullify the election results.
During the hearing before a 5-member commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, Babar’s lawyer asserted that there was no voter list or established procedure for the intra-party polls. He contended that the party’s election commissioner retained control of the database, raising concerns about the transparency of the process. The lawyer presented a video of the intra-party elections as evidence and submitted it to the commission.
In response, the Election Commission adjourned the hearing until December 12 (Tuesday), indicating the gravity of the issues raised and the need for a thorough examination of the allegations. The notice to PTI signifies a pivotal moment as the electoral body grapples with the task of ensuring fairness and adherence to democratic principles within political parties.
