Peshawar High Court stays ECP decision to hold re-election in Lower Dir

Election body had ordered a re-election in PK-95 because women were barred from voting

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday stayed the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan for re-polling in PK-95 Lower Dir-II, where women were barred from voting.

The decision was taken in the light of a petition that was submitted by the winning candidate of Jamat-e-Islami, Aizazul Mulk Afkari, against the ECP’s decision.

Read: PK-95 re-elections to be held on July 12

In the petition, JI maintained that women who had appeared before the court and said that they were barred from voting belonged to an NGO. Further, Ayesha Sayed, a JI MNA, had also informed the ECP that women had had not come out to vote out of their own will and there was no force used nor any agreement.

Read: ECP inquiry: Disenfranchisement of women a ‘tradition in Lower Dir’

On June 2, the ECP had ordered re-polling on the constituency and set July 12 as the date for another round of elections on PK-95.

Earlier, around 12 women from the constituency had approached Peshawar High Court through a petition, asking for the election to be declared null and void and to unseat Jamaat-e-Islami’s elected candidate.

However, Peshawar High Court dismissed the petition.