ECP postpones polling on four Fata Senate seats

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday postponed the Senate elections on four Fata seats.
According to Geo News, the ECP had consulted the attorney general with regards to rescheduling the elections for Fata seats as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Sardar Raza Khan also chaired a high-level meeting of the ECP to come to a final decision.
Earlier in the day, Fata Returning Officer Usman Ali had filed a request to postpone the polling.The suspension since morning came in the wake of a late night presidential ordinance which restricted MNAs from Fata to just one vote instead of four votes.
According to the Secretary Election Commission Sher Afgan, the polling process would only continue after the confusion over the new SRO was removed.The ECP also consulted the Law Ministry with regards to the overnight presidential decree.
President Mamnoon Hussain signed an ordinance on Fata Regulations, altering the rules for the Senate elections to replace the presidential ordinance on the Fata regulations issued in 2002.With the National Assembly session prorogued on March 3, the government waited till past midnight to issue the ordinance.
Faisal Kamal Pasha adds: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here on Thursday issued notices to the Federation of Pakistan and ECP after the parliamentary leader of the Fata National Assembly members GG Jamal filed a writ petition seeking to annul Wednesday night’s presidential ordinance limiting Fata National Assembly members’ right to vote.
The IHC bench rejected the petitioner’s request to suspend the said ordinance or to stay the Senate elections but issued notices to the said respondents with directions to submit a reply within one week’s time.
Counsel for GG Jamal, Shafqat Abbasi said before the court that despite his request to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan, he still has not got the gazette notification of the ordinance. He, however, attached clipping of newspapers with his petition as a proof of the said ordinance.
The IHC bench observed that how could the court issue directives on an ordinance that is not before the court. Counsel for GG Jamal argued before the court that the said ordinance was issued at midnight, and it is discriminatory towards Fata National Assembly members to curtail their right of vote.
Talking to this correspondent, advocate Abbasi said that Fata got four seats for senators through elections at which 11 National Assembly members of Fata could poll four votes each as per the previous presidential ordinance on Fata regulations issued in 2002. The federal government, through recent ordinance, has repealed the 2002 ordinance and now they have divided 11 members of Fata into groups of three where each group will elect one senator. Abbasi further said that the current ordinance is ambiguous as it doesn’t address the issue of remaining two senators out of 11.
Counsel for GG Jamal argued before the court that the current ordinance was issued in a hasty manner, and it was not discussed on any forum before getting issued. The ordinance is in violation of Fata National Assembly members’ right of vote and also violates transparency and fairness.
In the wake of all this, the ECP postponed the Senate elections for Fata and sought attorney general of Pakistan’s advice on the issue.In another matter, the same IHC bench issued notices to a Senate candidate from Fata Abdur Raziq Afridi and the ECP after petitioners Muhammad Iqbal and Imtiaz Afridi adopted before it that Afridi is a tax defaulter of worth 200 million rupees.
The petitioners sought from the court to direct the ECP to reject candidature of Abdur Raziq Afridi. They, through their counsel Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, adopted before the court that the Cantonment Board, Peshawar, through a letter dated February 26, 2015, had apprised the ECP that Abdur Raziq Afridi is a defaulter of 200 million rupees on account of property tax. Despite this fact, the ECP accepted his candidature.
Barrister Gohar argued before the court that the respondent may be stopped from contesting election.The IHC bench said that how could it stop the election when polling is going on. At this, Barrister Gohar said that the court can direct the ECP not to notify respondent’s victory till adjudication of this matter.The court, issuing notices to the said respondents, directed them to submit reply within fortnight.