PHC annuls ECP’s decision to hold re-election in PK-95

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday suspended the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that had declared last month’s by-election in the provincial assembly constituency, PK-95 Lower Dir, as void because of the disenfranchisement of women.
A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Mrs Justice Irshad Qaisar also suspended the ECP’s schedule for re-election in the constituency till the next order of the court.
The bench issued notice to the ECP and other relevant officials to submit replies before the next hearing of the case.Aizazul Mulk Afkari, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Lower Dir district chief, had defeated Awami National Party (ANP)’s Bahadur Khan by a margin of 2,308 votes. He had secured 18,711 votes against the 16,403 obtained by the ANP candidate.
In a landmark decision on June 2, the ECP decided not to notify the returned candidate and announced to hold fresh election.It also announced schedule for re-election in the constituency. The re-election was to be held on July 12.
Aizazul Mulk Afkari had challenged the ECP’s decision in the PHC.During hearing of the petition, the petitioner’s lawyers Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik and Muhammad Fida Gul submitted before the bench that no political party or candidates stopped the women from casting their votes in the by-election. They said that in the past elections also the women were not coming out of their homes to vote due to cultural and traditional constraints.
They pointed out that the issue was raised by some Islamabad-based female non-governmental organizations (NGO) activists who had filed complaint in the ECP regarding disenfranchisement of women.
They said the ECP decision was in violation of Articles 3, 25 and 218 of the Constitution. They said that no voter from the constituency had filed a complaint about being barred from voting and the action had been taken merely on the basis of media reports and due to the initiative of the NGOs.
They argued that prior to the by-election, a female MNA Ayesha Sayyed, who belongs to the JI, personally visited the constituency to persuade the female voters to vote, but every woman refused to cast vote in the polls
The ECP had taken suo motu notice of media reports that women were barred from exercising their right to vote in the by-election on May 7. It had sought reports from the provincial chief secretary and the returning officer concerned regarding the issue.
Of the total 53,817 female voters in the constituency, not a single woman cast her vote in the May 7 by-poll. The PK-95 seat had fallen vacant after Jamaat-i-Islami head Sirajul Haq was elected member of the Senate.
The practice of disallowing the women from voting has continued unchecked for years under verbal and written agreements between candidates, political parties and local elders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a few other areas. However, this was the first time in Pakistan that the ECP took notice of the issue and ordered re-election in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the women activists who had approached the ECP in the first place to declare the PK-95 by-election as void have again sought the intervention of the Chief Election Commissioner in the matter. They are also holding consultation whether to challenge the PHC decision in the same court or in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.