ECP rejects Imran’s reference against Gulalai

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday rejected a reference, by majority of three to two, filed by the PTI Chairman Imran Khan against the party MNA Ayesha Gulalai seeking to de-seat her for ‘violation’ of party rules.

In its short order, the commission said, “Arguments on either side completed. For detailed reasons recorded separately, Justice (R) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi (Punjab) and Justice (R) Shakeel Ahmed Baloch (Balochistan) dissenting, the reference is hereby answered in the negative.”

In his reference, Imran claimed that Gulalai had violated the party laws and should be de-seated as she had abstained from voting for the PTI's nominated candidate, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, for the office of the prime minister. Imran said he had notified all party members to support the Awami Muslim League chief.

Gulalai, however, claimed that she had not participated in the voting process due to illness, but the PTI lawyer presented a record of TV talk shows in which she had appeared at the time of the session to announce her decision to quit the party.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza and ECP Member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (retd) Mrs. Irshad Qaiser and Abdul Ghaffar Soomro ruled that Gulalai had not violated the party discipline and hence she could not be de-seated.

Later, talking to journalists outside the Election Commission, Gulalai unleashed a scathing attack on Imran and alleged that during the "Dharna" days in 2014, she had learnt from the party workers that smuggled drugs worth Rs470 million were supplied to the youth of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

Gulalai accused Imran of spreading anarchy and chaos  to come to power and insisted that the poor and middle class people would not vote for him. “Niazi sb on the one hand you want to disqualify others with drug money and on the other you have links with the Taliban, who attack Aftab Sherpao’s public meeting and those of PPP and ANP while not a single cracker is fired when you hold your public meeting with music being played,” she retorted.

“You and Taliban talk in the same way. You both asked me to quit as MNA. I have proof of Taliban threatening me to resign as MNA, when I developed differences with the party. You keep on telling everyone to protest against everything and have started a culture of levelling allegations and counter-allegations and hurling insults. Is this the  kind of Pakistan you are building," she asked. She also alleged that the money pocketed through corruption was being used in NA-4 election campaign and this was also used in the NA-120 by-election.

She apologised to media persons, who got angry when she gave an interview to a female journalist at her youth convention in Peshawar a day earlier and claimed the number of ideological party workers, youth, both male and female, who attended the event, had proved that a new force was emerging from within the PTI, who were against the corrupt (billionaires) elements  being imposed on them.

“By attending the convention in such a big number, they have proved that they are not ready to accept the corrupt rich people, whom Niazi sb wants to impose on them. Niazi sb how will you eliminate corruption with the corrupt people around you and how will you do away with status quo with representatives of that very segment of the society,” she wondered.

Gulalai remarked, “Niazi sb, you say, the present assembly is full of thieves and corrupt people while by giving tickets to thieves, looters and corrupt people, you will also crowd these assemblies with vested interests and thieves”. By totally ignoring the sacrifices of sincere party workers and ‘by hook or by crook’ Imran wants to become prime minister, she said.

She warned that new people in the party would break records of corruption in Pakistan, as they were joining the PTI for their own interests.  “No conscientious and sensible people can make Imran prime minister,” she claimed. “God forbid, if Imran formed   government, then drug smugglers would be extremely happy, there would be rampant use of abusive language and there would be surge in attacks against women.

You are raising hue and cry against corruption  to divert attention from corruption rampant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One can well imagine how callous and cruel you are that you served a notice on a middle class youth worth crores of rupees,” she charged.

Gulalai accused Imran of not talking about the poor and middle class, which formed majority of Pakistan’s population. Imran, she alleged, landlords and billionaires on his right and left were a tangible proof of his love for money and that was why there was no respect for a middle class person in PTI. “You are enemy of the poor and the middle class,” she alleged.

She hailed the ECP judgment in the disqualification reference and said even if it  hadbeen against her she would not have hurled threats at the constitutional body, whereas Imran would malign the ECP. Gulalai said the decision was a victory for Fauzia Kasuri and others in the party who have been sidelined despite being  loyal and committed to it.

“Niazi sb you always spread anarchy and by your behaviour, you gave the same lesson to others. This is not the new Pakistan you talk about wherein you abuse every state institution and even honorable judges. You only praise, if you are given concessions, otherwise, when you are asked to appear before the constitutional body, you threaten of bringing people out. This behavior is of anarchic. You want to impose your will on the state institutions which is not acceptable to the civilised people at all,” she noted.

She warned that if Imran came out this time to block roads and shut institutions, then the  people of Pakistan would also take to streets against him and she would also be part of that and hold a public meeting at the Parade Ground to ensure respect for the constitutional institutions. Gulalai pointed out that Pakistan was faced with so many challenges, with Daesh rising in the region and the national economy going down.

“Due to your antics, the government could not focus on the masses. Niazi sb, when you will spread anarchy, how would the government function and pay attention to peoples' problems.  And then you say that the economy is in bad shape,” she said.

She noted that people in KP voted for PTI while Imran left them there and came to Islamabad for sit-in and public meetings and each day threatened of coming out on roads. “You don’t have time for dengue patients, who keep on dying in the province. That is why people in NA-4 have announced to boycott the by-poll and hoisted black flags; they say, they voted for Imran, who did not respect their daughters and sisters. People are deprived of even basic needs of life. You have made people run away from the political process,” she alleged.   Gulalai announced to hold youth conventions in Lahore and Karachi shortly.

 Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said they would challenge the decision. Talking to the media outside the Supreme Court, he said the party would take the issue to its logical end and asserted they would not let Ayesha Gulalai sit in the assembly. He claimed Gulalai had announced leaving the party in front of the media.

“We will follow the matter to the end; her actions have damaged the struggle of other women. Ayesha Gulalai did not vote in the elections for the prime minister in the National Assembly despite being told that the party would vote for Sheikh Rasheed".

"She has made allegations against the PTI chief and she had openly disassociated herself from the party. How can she be a member of the NA on PTI's ticket? Her occupation of this seat violates the rights of those women in the party who are involved in a political struggle," he noted.

Senior leader PTI and party’s Chief Whip Dr. Shireen Mazari stated that the constitution clearly says that a MNA, who votes against the party decision on finance bill or election of prime minister loses his,her seat but the Election Commission’s verdict brazenly shows its bias. She said the 3:2 verdict was a blow to democratic norms and principles. “The ECP is trying to politicise a clear straightforward constitutional matter,” she said.

Meanwhile, Fawad has written to the secretary Cabinet Division saying that the Chief Election Commissioner has the eligibility to use 1600cc vehicle as per the law but he was using a 4800 cc SUV vehicle that cost Rs50 million. “This is a tax payers money and this amounts to a misuse of authority in addition to a colossal loss to the government exchequer.

I as a citizen of Pakistan have the constitutional right to know under what law the chief election commissioner has been authorised to use such luxury vehicle. In addition, please furnish the details of assets the chief election commissioner holds in his name, in name of his spouse and children within 15 days, under the Right to Information Act,” he wrote to the secretary.