ECP rejects PTI intra-party election plea; hearing postponed

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Friday dismissed Akbar S. Babar’s plea for a fresh round of intra-party elections within the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and adjourned the hearing till December 12.

A five-member ECP bench, led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, considered a series of petitions submitted by PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar, Tahir Nawaz, Noreen Farooq, and others.

These petitions challenge the recently conducted intra-party polls of the Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Secretary of the Election Commission, Umar Hameed Khan, along with 14 petitioners and additional individuals, presented themselves before the commission. The legal representatives of PTI’s founding member, Akbar S. Babar, and Raja Tahir Nawaz Abbasi asserted that the intra-party elections were not conducted in compliance with the rules and should be invalidated.

The bench, highlighting Election Act Section 215, dismissed Babar’s plea, stating the re-conduct of PTI’s intra-party elections should be dropped. Lawyer Ali Hassan, representing petitioner Akbar S. Babar, contended that the PTI Election Commission was established just two days before the elections, without the creation of a voter list, and the elections took place shortly thereafter.

Speaking to the media persons outside the ECP, Akbar S. Babar asserted that a political maneuver was executed under the guise of democracy.