ISLAMABAD: In protest against the “biased attitude” of the chief election commissioner (CEC), the PTI is staging demonstrations outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) offices across the country.
To ensure security in the federal capital and avoid any untoward incident, Section 144 has been imposed in Islamabad’s Red Zone and political parties have been urged not to protest there.
An Islamabad police spokesperson said that protests can be staged at the press club of F9 park as demonstrations in Red Zone will not be allowed.
The spokesperson further stated that nobody will be allowed to break laws, adding that anti-riot force will be deployed inside and outside the red zone.
The PTI has accused the CEC of being "biased" towards the party and not taking action equally against all the parties in the foreign funding case.
The chief election commissioner has also written a letter to the Islamabad administration and police, demanding proper arrangements for the security of the ECP office.
Meanwhile, sources told Geo News that the police have also decided to seal the roads leading to Red Zone, only Margalla Road will remain open for entry and all other entrances will be sealed with containers and barbed wires.
Sources further said that 750 personnel will be deployed for the security of the ECP; moreover, Rangers will also be in charge of the security.
Meanwhile, the ECP said it has not yet received any notification of resignation by any member of the National Assembly (MNA).
A day earlier, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja presided over a meeting at the ECP Secretariat, and besides two members of the commission, the secretary and other senior officers also attended.
Soon after the PTI government was sent packing, the party had sent the resignations of 123 MNAs to the National Assembly speaker. The then deputy speaker Qasim Suri, who was acting as an acting speaker, accepted the resignations and issued a notification.
However, the newly elected Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said that he will decide the matter as per law.
The meeting considered the letter written by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the ECP in which he had said that the party had resigned from all seats in the National Assembly and there was no representation of it in the assembly. “A case against the dissidents has been sent to the ECP under Article 63A of the Constitution,” the letter added.