Election tribunals pick up pace in Punjab

Listen to article

ISLAMABAD:

Election tribunals formed to adjudicate election disputes related to last year general elections decided 11 election petitions in January 2025, raising the total number of decided petitions to 112 — 30 percent of the overall caseload.

The Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) revealed this in its sixth update on the election disputes resolution process—an update based on systematic tracking of the election petitions.

Of these, nine petitions were decided by three tribunals in Lahore, while the Bahawalpur and Karachi tribunals each decided one petition.

Among the decided petitions, six were filed by independent candidates backed by the PTI, four by PML-N candidates, and one by an Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) candidate. All 11 petitions were dismissed.

The electoral dispute resolution process had gained momentum in the last quarter of 2024, with approximately 70 petitions decided, primarily by the three Balochistan tribunals consisting of serving high court judges.

However, progress slowed in January, likely due to winter vacations observed by the Balochistan High Court (BHC) from December 26, 2024, to February 25, 2025.

In contrast, the disposal of petitions in Punjab picked up pace following prolonged delays caused by legal challenges to their constitution. Fafen has been tracking 371 election petitions filed with 23 election tribunals across the country.

To date, the three tribunals in Balochistan have collectively decided 41 out of 51 disputes (80 percent). Punjab, which has nine tribunals, has decided 45 out of 192 petitions (23 percent).

Sindh's five tribunals have resolved 17 out of 83 petitions (20 percent). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), where six tribunals were established, has disposed of nine out of 42 petitions (21 percent).

So far, 25 petitions (20 percent) out of 123 challenging the results of National Assembly constituencies have been decided, including 12 in Punjab, seven in Balochistan, four in Sindh, and two in the K-P.