ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday delisted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intra-party election case due to the unavailability of a bench.
In a notice, the election commission stated that the next hearing date will be announced later.
It’s worth noting that PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Rauf Hassan, who served as the party’s chief federal election commissioner, were notified of Thursday’s hearing.
The ECP had raised seven objections regarding the PTI intra-party elections on March 3rd.
On December 22, 2023, the ECP stripped the PTI of its election symbol due to irregularities in its intra-party elections. The Supreme Court later upheld the ECP order, forcing the party to field its candidates as independents in the Feb 8 general elections.
After the general elections, the party once again conducted its intra-party elections on March 3. The party now demands that the ECP issue its notification.
However, the ECP has once again raised objections to the new party polls and sent a two-page questionnaire to the Imran-founded party.
The electoral watchdog questioned the current “status” of the PTI as a political party, noting that the party did not hold intra-party elections within five years, in accordance with Section 208(1). “Hence, it lost its organisational structure on lapsing of five years,” it stated.
The ECP also questioned why not to start the delisting process of the former ruling party’s registration and imposing a fine for not holding timely intra-party elections.
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