ECP halts notification on Imran Khan’s bypolls win

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has stopped the issuance of the notification on the recent election victory of PTI Chairman Imran Khan after his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja chaired a meeting during which the legal team gave a briefing on the constitutional aspects regarding the Toshakhana reference.

The election commission stopped the issuance of the notification of Imran Khan’s victory on six National Assembly seats in the by-elections for not disclosing the details of the election expenses.

The meeting reviewed the upcoming NA-45 Kurram by-elections. The election commission declared Imran Khan eligible to contest the by-polls The commission has formally informed the District Election Commissioner Kurram about the decision.

Imran Khan will contest for the NA-45 Kurram seat against JUI-F’s Jamil Khan, Sher Mohammad Khan of Jamaat-i-Islami, and other independent candidates. The by-elections are scheduled on October 30 after being delayed due to the law and order situation.

PTI Imran Khan won six out of seven seats contested during the by-elections held on October 16. The election commission notified the results of the by-polls on all seats except for those won by Imran Khan.

According to the notification, PTI’s Muhammad Faisal Khan and Malik Muhammad Muzaffar Khan emerged victories in PP-209 (Khanewal VII) and PP-241 (Bahawalnagar V) constituency respectively, while PML-N’s Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmed clinched the PP-139 seat from Sheikhupura.

PPP candidates Syed Ali Musa Gilani and Abdul Hakeem Baloch won from the NA-157 (Multan IV) and NA-237 (Malir II) constituencies.

In another notification issued, the ECP de-notified Imran Khan as MNA from constituency NA-95 of Mianwali I with “immediate effect” following his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference.

The notification said the decision on de-seating Imran was taken in terms of Article 63 of the Constitution. The decision was taken under articles 137 (Submission of statement of assets and liabilities), 167 (Corrupt practice), and 173 (Making or publishing a false statement or declaration) of the Elections Act 2017.

The decision came after Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that Imran had not been barred from contesting future elections following the verdict.

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