LHC moved over ECP parties symbols stance

Court urged to direct election supervisor to state its position in writing

LAHORE:

A plea has been filed in Lahore High Court (LHC), urging the court to direct the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to state its position in writing regarding the status of political parties with and without symbols.

The petition, filed by Mian Shabbir Asmail through Azhar Siddique Advocate, contended that the polls supervisory body maintained that only a party having an election symbol can contest the polls, and that anybody vying for elections without a designated symbol is considered an independent candidate.

The ECP unequivocally made this statement during the proceedings before a division bench of the LHC wherein PTI’s counsel Salman Akram Raja sought direction for the election supervisor to recognise him as a PTI candidate on relevant documents instead of an independent candidate.

Read ECP takes exception to LHC remarks

The petitioner argued before the court that the ECP’s interpretation was not based on a policy and stood against all norms. Finally, the LHC remanded the case to the polls supervisory body, directing it to make a decision in accordance with law.

“That, in any case, it is not the spirit of the law that a registered party a distinct entity and has a distinct future to whom the allocation of election symbol has been denied on the basis of Section 215 of the Election Act, 2017 (the “Act”) for which vires has been challenged before this court, hence, in view of this latest development, Section 215 of the Act as it has been argued and suggested by ECP is definitely ultra vires Article 70 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 (the “Constitution”), whereby taking away a symbol is actually taking away the right to vote as well as the right to contest by the political parties and the political party can only be restricted or banned in view of the directions as enshrined under Article 17 of the Constitution,” the petition said.