ECP can’t interpret law, IHC told

The Islamabad High Court on Thursday was told that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was not a court and it could not interpret the law as IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard a citizen’s petition for the allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The petitioner’s lawyer, PTI leader Advocate Azhar Siddique, contended that the Election Act, 2017’s Section 215, which gave the right to a political party to receive an electoral symbol, was contrary to Articles 17 and 2 of the Constitution.

He argued that Section 104 and Rule 94 of the Election Act were also unconstitutional.

The lawyer asked the court to declare all these provisions of the Election Act in conflict with the Constitution and thus null and void.

The court issued notices to the federal government, the four provinces, and other parties for May 31.

It also issued notices to the PTI and SIC.

Read SC suspends PHC's seats allocation order

The IHC also summoned the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) and the advocate generals of the four provinces.
The petition was filed by a female citizen named Amina Amir.

The hearing of the case was adjourned till May 31.

The ECP had deprived the PTI of its electoral symbol -- the cricket bat -- on December 22 last year in view of irregularities in its intra-party polls.

This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court on January 13 this year, weeks before the February 8 general elections.

Because of the absence of an electoral symbol, the PTI had become ineligible to submit its priority list for reserved seats to the ECP while its candidates had to contest the last month’s elections as independents.

As independent candidates have to join a political party three days after the announcement of official election results, the PTI-backed candidates joined little-known SIC.

However, the ECP, on March 4, dismissed the SIC’s request for the allocation of the reserved seats, noting that the party had not submitted its priority list of its candidates for them prior to the polls – a necessity under the law.