PTI election tribunal: Imran takes back dissolution order

Party seeks three weeks for enforcing tribunals ruling

ISLAMABAD:

Amid growing criticism over his ‘authoritarian’ approach to run the party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Monday withdrew his controversial decision to dissolve election tribunal headed by Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed.

“The tribunal was confidentially contacted,” and told that the party chairman’s command calling upon justice Wajihuddin to stand down and not conduct meetings of the erstwhile tribunal, said the two-member commission after the meeting.

After withdrawing the dissolution order, the PTI requested the tribunal “for grant of three weeks’ time in order that, meanwhile, effective steps are taken for implementation of the tribunal’s orders,” with regard to intra-party elections.

The tribunal has accepted the request while noting, “Three more weeks, in our current context, is not a small period of time. Before this, as from October 17, 2014 to date, already, more than half a year has passed and the party workers and activists continue to be deprived, the unlawful incumbents continuing to rule the roost. This state of affairs is unacceptable. It may, therefore, be assured that the needful is done within the extended time.”

The order also stated: “Accordingly, while the proceedings stand extended to May 25, at the same time and place, all party individuals and institutions, so far required by the tribunal to act or report, would do so before the said date, failing which the necessary consequences of non-compliance would follow,”

According to sources, the party had told the tribunal after contacting confidentially that party top brass was inextricably engaged in proceedings of the judicial commission and other issues related to the upcoming local government elections.

The PTI chairman had suspended the tribunal just 48 hours before its hearing in Karachi. The panel, formed by Imran in December 2013, was set to meet on April 27 to decide on show-cause notices, as well as hearing complaints regarding allegations of massive irregularities, corruption and fraud during the intra-party elections held on March 18, 2013.

In response, Justice Wajih had responded to the chairman’s notification saying: “Under judicial norms, a part-heard matter cannot, administratively, be taken away while a judge or judges are hearing it.”

The retired justice compared Imran’s actions to military dictators like Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf for their illegal and unconstitutional decisions to seek a subservient judiciary. “Have we ourselves changed rather than changing Pakistan for the better?” he questioned.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2015.