ECP takes up Ali Haider Gilani leaked video case

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is hearing a case pertaining to a leaked video in which former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani was seen purportedly advising an MNA on how to waste his vote in the Senate elections.

The video had surfaced last week, a day before the March 3 Senate elections showing Gilani who is advising an MNA on how he could waste his vote if he doesn’t want to vote for the government’s candidate.

The ECP had earlier announced that it would conduct a hearing of the issue of the leaked video of former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Gilani about Senate elections on Thursday. However, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) earlier in the day filed another petition in the ECP urging it not to issue the notification on Yousaf Raza Gillani’s victory in the Senate election.

PTI lawmakers Maleeka Bokhari and Farrukh Habib submitted a petition in the election commission seeking an urgent hearing of PTI plea over the matter. Former prime minister Gillani was elected on a general seat from Islamabad in the recently held Senate elections.

“The matter is extremely important as a senator elected with corrupt practices now aspiring to become chairman of the Senate,” the petition read.

“The election of Yousaf Raza Gillani has been a rare incident in the national political history”, the application further read. “Hopefully, the election commission will hear the matter urgently, as it had heard the issue related to the by-election in NA-75 in Daska,” according to the petition.