ECP seeks PEMRA’s record of Imran’s speech against CEC

CEC seeks responses from dissenting PTI lawmakers in disqualification case

ISLAMABAD:

Taking notice of allegations levelled against it by former prime minister Imran Khan, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has asked the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) for the record of his address during a workers’ convention in Peshawar on April 26.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman had demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for allegedly siding with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) against the PTI.

The former premier had claimed that the CEC had “lost all his credibility” and when the country’s “largest political party” has lost confidence in him, he should resign. He had also warned of nationwide protests against if the CEC did not resign.

The ECP has also sought the record of statements of Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh, Khurram Sher Zaman and Senator Ijaz Chaudhry.

The CEC has categorically stated that he does not plan on resigning and would continue on his post in the “best interests of the country”.

On Thursday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja said the ECP would wrap up the case against dissident PTI MNAs within 30 days, seeking replies on references filed for their disqualification under Article 63-A of the Constitution over defection from the party before adjourning the hearing till May 6.

A three-member bench led by Raja heard the reference filed by the PTI’s lawyer. The bench also reserved the verdict on a plea that the ECP could not hear the references as it was incomplete following the retirement of two of its members.

At the outset of the hearing, the CEC said that the body would call in every dissident member and hear their side of the story.

Dissident MNA Noor Alam Khan's counsel apprised the bench that his client neither resigned from his party nor did he join another political party at the time of the no-trust motion.

"Also, this commission is incomplete and hence, it cannot hear this case. A similar case was brought before the ECP in 2015 and, at that time, it had ordered that only a complete commission could hear such cases."

Counsel Anwar raised objections as two members of the election commission — out of the total four — retired following the completion of their tenures.

"Only a complete commission can decide the case of dissident MNAs," the lawyer said.

For his part, the PTI's lawyer said the ECP was bound to decide the case within 30 days once it received the declaration against the MNAs.

He also raised objections over the counsel's reservations, saying that his demands were not in line with the Constitution.

At this, Alam's counsel said he only contested that an incomplete commission could not hear the reference filed seeking the disqualification of dissident MNAs.

"They can hear other cases, not this one [...] and the reason for this commission being incomplete is that political leaders do not communicate with one another," he said.

Meanwhile, dissident PTI MNA Ramesh Kumar, who was present at the hearing, said he got to know that he was served a show-cause notice through the TV, claiming that he did not receive the letter.

"Despite this, I replied to it," he said while referring to the response wherein the dissident PTI members had told their party leadership that they had done nothing wrong.

Kumar said he mentioned in the response that he was a PTI worker and followed the party's policy.

After hearing the arguments, the CEC said National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf should submit his response in this regard.

"The commission holds a fair hearing. The speaker can take a copy of the reference and submit his response on May 6. We will wrap up the case in 30 days," he said.

The CEC then postponed the hearing till May 6.

The PTI had filed references against MNAs Noor Alam Khan, Dr Mohammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Nawab Sher Waseer, Raja Riaz Ahmad, Ahmed Hussain Deharr, Rana Mohammad Qasim Noon, Asim Nazeer, Amjad Farooq Khosa, Aamir Liaquat Hussain, Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Syed Mobeen Ahmed, Sayed Samiul Hassan Gillani, Mohammad Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo, Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan, Aamir Talal Gopang, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Wajiha Qamar, Nuzhat Pathan and Javeria Zafar.