Islamabad: A notice has been issued to Tehreek-e-Insaaf on the request to declare the PTI intra-party election null and void.
A 5-member commission headed by the Chief Election Commissioner held a preliminary hearing on 14 petitions of PTI to declare the intra-party elections null and void, in which the petitioners appeared before the Election Commission along with their lawyers.
During the hearing, the lawyer of Akbar S. Babar said in his arguments that all parties conduct intra-party elections, PTI was ordered by the Election Commission to conduct intra-party elections. Public notice was given on November 30 and elections were held 2 days later. How were these elections, where the voter list etc. was not told. PTI has not given the schedule of elections.
Member Election Commission Sindh inquired whether this is stated in the constitution of PTI?, to which the lawyer said that there is no such thing in the constitution of PTI. It is written in the constitution that registered party members can vote. The procedure of elections is not fixed in the constitution of PTI. If there is no procedure for elections in the party constitution, then the elections should be conducted under the Act. PTI Elections have been held against the Act.
The Member Election Commission of Sindh asked what is the status of your client, to which the lawyer said that my client Akbar S. Babar is a member of the party. Re-elections should be conducted through a third party.
Member Election Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa asked do you have any evidence, to which the lawyer said we have video evidence. The Member Election Commission asked what can we do if no one has appeared in the competition?, to which the lawyer replied that we were not given the nomination papers. Neither the voter list was made nor any other arrangements were made. A person was made chairman in a closed room. There was no nomination papers, no scrutiny and no final list.
Member Election Commission KPK asked in what capacity you were contesting the election? Has your membership not expired?, to which the lawyer replied that it has not, there is also a decision of the Islamabad High Court in this regard. We also went to the central office to get information before the election, but no one allowed me to get the nomination papers.
Lawyer Raja Tahir Abbasi said in his arguments that these are dummy elections. Advertisers and jailed people were given posts. These elections should be annulled. PTI conducted the elections against the Elections Act and the party constitution. Yasmin Rashid is in Jail, Ali Amin Gandapur is an advertisement. How did he get nominated? PTI’s intra-party elections have not been selected. According to the PTI constitution, elections must be held by forming a panel.
Akbar S. Babar’s lawyer said in the Election Commission that the rights of those who want to contest the elections have been affected. There was no transparency in the elections. When they went to the Central Secretariat, they said they do not know about the elections. We have video evidence we went there.
The Chief Election Commissioner inquired whether there was any written complaint to the party, to which the lawyer said no, we did not make any written complaint. Their papers have arrived and the commission will look into them. On this occasion, the video of Akbar S. Babar going to the PTI Central Secretariat was also played in front of the Election Commission. The lawyer said that they are ready to provide the mobiles they are made of for video forensics.
The lawyer said that the Election Commission had admitted the videos as evidence in the past. We are ready to give an affidavit in this regard. Do not recognize the fraudulent intra-party elections of December 2. On December 2, Tehreek-e-Insaf violated the Election Commission’s order. The Election Commission should again conduct intra-party elections of PTI in its monitoring.
Member Election Commission Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that now forget the elections again. I had given the opportunity to hold the elections earlier, but if I don’t do it now, there will be consequences. The consequences of not holding elections are in Section 215 of the Elections Act.
Petitioner Raja Hamid Zaman said that Tehreek-e-Insaf has insulted the Election Commission by holding fake elections. Election Commission action should be taken against PTI and election symbol of Tehreek-e-Insaf should be stopped.
Later, the Election Commission issued a notice to PTI and adjourned the hearing till December 12.
Meanwhile, a protest was held outside the Election Commission on the occasion of the hearing, in which the protesters raised placards and chanted slogans against the fake election. A heavy contingent of police was deployed on the occasion. Anti-PTI intra-party slogans were written on placards by the protesters.
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