ISLAMABAD:
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued notices on Friday to 40 political parties for failing to submit details of their election campaign expenditures from the general elections.
The ECP has summoned these parties on June 5 to address the issue.
Among those summoned are several prominent political figures, including the president of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Sardar Akhtar Mengal, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Nazriati (PTI-N) Chairman Akhtar Iqbal Dar.
Notices have also been issued to the Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party’s president and former chief justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry.
In addition, Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan, Pakistan Awami Raj Party Chairman Jamshed Ahmad Dasti, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas have been summoned.
It is pertinent to note that on Wednesday the ECP had warned lawmakers, giving them a final opportunity to submit their statements of assets and liabilities for 2022-23.
A four-member bench of the commission cautioned that sitting lawmakers who fail to comply would face suspension, while former members would be disqualified if they did not submit their statements.
The bench was informed that 125 lawmakers had been issued notices, with 46 complying and 79 still outstanding.
Fresh notices have now been ordered for those who have not met the legal requirement. ECP Member from Punjab, Babar Hasan Bharwana, emphasised that final notices should be issued to current members of the National or provincial assemblies.
Prominent figures among those who have been issued notices include Marriyum Aurangzeb, Rana Sanaullah, Khurram Dastgir, Tariq Basheer Cheema, Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha, Raja Riaz, Javed Latif, and Ali Musa Gilani.
PTI intra-party polls
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to hear the PTI intra-party election case on June 6.
A five-member bench will preside over the hearing. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Raoof Hasan have been sent notices by the ECP.
The announcement comes a day after the ECP had to delist the PTI intra-party election case a day earlier due to the non-availability of the bench.
The ECP notice included three cases, with the “non-conduct of intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf” being at the top. Barrister Khan and Raoof Hassan, the party’s chief federal election commissioner, were initially scheduled for a hearing on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the ECP will hear former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s plea for a re-poll in PP-32 on June 4. The electoral body has sought a report from the Returning Officer (RO) on the allegations while issuing a notice to Elahi.
Elahi, a PTI leader, has moved the ECP against alleged rigging in the PP-32 by-election.
Section 9(1) of the Elections Act empowers the ECP to nullify election results and order re-polling in any constituency if it is satisfied that grave irregularities have occurred or if the turnout of women voters is less than 10 per cent of the total votes polled in the constituency.
In his petition, Elahi claimed that the turnout of women voters was less than 10 per cent at 18 polling stations during the PP-32 by-election on April 21. He also alleged that massive rigging took place in the constituency.
