ECP throws out petition challenging PTI's intra-party elections

ISLAMABAD: A five-member bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The bench was hearing a petition filed by former PTI’s Swabi Chapter General Secretary Yousuf Ali, seeking the electoral body’s injunction to declare the election null and void.

The petition asserts that the party did not complete the necessary legal formalities at time of making amendments in the party constitution as it required two-thirds majority from the Central Executive Council.

During the proceedings today, the PTI counsel submitted records of the intra-party elections.

According to the records provided by the PTI, the Insaf Panel secured 189,055 votes and the Ehesaab Panel received 141,000 out of total 256,997 votes, besides a total of 26,255 votes were discarded.

On the occasion, the PTI’s counsel also objected to share the records with any political party, as he said, it would violate sanctity of the vote.

Referring to votes held through SMS, the counsel said sharing the records would also provide an access to the phone numbers of voters.