Pakistan: Imran Khan fails to appear before ECP in intra-party polls case

Islamabad: Despite warning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan over the party’s failure to hold intra-party elections, he did not appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday, reported The Express Tribune. The ECP summoned Imran Khan on Wednesday and warned him that if he failed to appear before the commission, the […]

Islamabad: Despite warning the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan over the party’s failure to hold intra-party elections, he did not appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday, reported The Express Tribune.

The ECP summoned Imran Khan on Wednesday and warned him that if he failed to appear before the commission, the electoral watchdog might declare his party ineligible to obtain an election symbol for future party polls under Section 215 (5) of the Elections Act, 2017.

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The electoral watchdog referred to Section 209(1) of the Election Act and said that every registered political party was bound to provide the commission with a certificate about holding its intra-party polls, The Express Tribune reported.

However, the PTI’s lawyer Barrister Gohar Ali appeared before the panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and requested for the hearing to be postponed instead. Hence, no development has been made on this issue during the hearing today.

The ECP referred to its earlier notices and said the PTI’s intra-party elections were due on June 13 in 2021 under the party’s constitution.

Last year, in May, the electoral commission issued a show-cause notice to PTI Chief for not holding intra-party elections of the PTI in his capacity as its Chairman.

The PTI urged to extend the date of intra-party elections, to which, ECP extended it to June 13, 2022. However, the party failed to hold its polls even by their own preferred date, according to The Express Tribune.

It added the PTI was intimated/reminded to conduct intra-party elections within the timeframe provided under sections 208, 209 and 215 of the ‘Elections Act, 2017 but the party failed to provide the requisite certificate to this effect, Geo News reported.

The polls organising authority also said it issued final notice to the PTI in May last year for ensuring the conduct of intra-party elections on or before June 13, 2022 (extended date) with the observation that no further extension shall be allowed.

After the notice, PTI submitted a copy of the amended party’s constitution which was deemed insufficient by the electoral body.