PMLN MP petitions ECP not to notify Imran’s victory on 7 NA seats

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Tuesday approached the Election Commission, urging it not to notify PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s victory from any of the seven National Assembly seats he had won in the recent by-election.

In the petition, PMLN legislator Ali Gohar Baloch pleaded that the PTI chairman neither could be a member of the incumbent assembly nor could he contest the election after his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference. He was referring to the order of ECP passed on October 21 in the Toshakhana case.

The ECP declared that Imran Khan Niazi was guilty of corrupt practices owing to his misstatements and mis-declarations while filing returns in terms of Section 137 of the Elections Act as well as due to false, evasive and misleading reply filed with the commission.

He said during the pendency of the reference with the commission, a delinquent and disqualified person once again contested the by-elections on multiple vacant seats and was declared successful but his notification as the returned candidate had not been issued so far.

Since Imran Khan Niazi has been disqualified from being a member of the National Assembly and has been found lying and making false statements and declarations in relation to his assets, therefore, issuance of his notification as the returned candidate amounts to frustration of the constitutional provisions of penal nature, Gohar pleaded.

He said Imran Niazi was not qualified to become a member of the assembly for having been declared disqualified, and as a resultant de-seated for the rest of the tenure of incumbent legislature, therefore, his notification should not be issued.

Separately, the issuance of nomination papers for holding the local government polls in Islamabad has started. In this regard, the offices of returning officers have been set up at the designated places for obtaining the nomination forms from November 01 to November 11. The papers will be submitted to the offices of the returning officers from November 07 to November 11.

Meanwhile, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Tuesday reserved its decision on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s petition against the alleged rigging and violence during the recent Malir (NA-237) by-poll, in which he had lost to the PPP candidate Abdul Hakeem Baloch. Imran’s counsel Dr Shahab Imam appeared before a five-member bench of the commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.

The counsel pleaded that a PTI MPA was attacked by 20 to 25 people and videos of the incident were also available as evidence. He contended that the FIR had not been registered so far. The incident took place outside the polling station number 129, where the worst kind of rigging took place, he said.

The chief election commissioner said no evidence had been provided along with the application. The counsel said there was a statement from the presiding officer about the attack by a group, which was also proof that the election was not transparent.

However, the counsel was told, “If you have any problem, go to the election tribunal and if the FIR is not being registered, you can approach the sessions court”. The ECP member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (retd) Ikram Ullah pointed out that the PTI had accepted the results where it won and was crying foul where it lost.

He also remarked, “Everything is fine where your candidates won, and there is no transparency where they lost. And if you lose, you view the performance of the Election Commission as bad.” Special Secretary to the Election Commission Zafar Iqbal Hussain explained to the bench that the incident took place outside the polling station against which an FIR had been registered, and investigation by the police was underway. Later, the bench reserved its verdict on the petition.