ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has announced it will formally confirm the victory of Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), in by-elections for seven National Assembly seats in October of last year.
Khan had won seven of eight national assembly seats he stood for in the by-election, a vote he has called a referendum on his popularity.
The polls were called “in constituencies where the government thought PTI was weakest”, the former prime minister said at the time. “Despite such attempts, our voters defeated combined candidates of the ruling coalition.”
Thursday’s decision was made by a five-member panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja and was previously withheld due to Khan’s alleged failure to submit details of the party’s funding to the electoral body.
The commission had previously issued a notice to the opposition party requesting information on the party’s funding sources, which is referred to as the “prohibited funding case”.
The decision came after a hearing in which the party had requested the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, including bank managers who had provided the party’s bank statements on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan.
The counsel for ECP argued the PTI had been part of the investigation process for four years before the scrutiny committee and eight years before the commission and had not once requested the opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.
The ECP reserved judgement on the matter on December 20, and has now issued its verdict clearing the way for the issuance of the notification of victory for the former premier.
