ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Tuesday that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had failed to perform its functions.
Speaking to media men in Islamabad, he said that under the Election Act, a certificate had to be issued within seven days of the submission of documents by a party.
“But a year has passed. And the ECP is yet to issue a certificate to the PTI,” he said, and added, “What could be more unfortunate than the fact that the parties, which held their elections after the PTI, were issued the certificates.”
Today, the PTI chairman lamented, the election commission had adjourned the case hearing until April 8.
Barrister Gohar said that the Supreme Court (SC) had given a verdict in the reserved seats case in favour of the PTI.
Speaking to the media, Akbar S. Babar, the petitioner in the PTI’s intra-party case, said that despite the fact that the PTI claimed to be working for the promotion of democracy in the country, still it was involved in illegal activities. “We had demanded that the bank accounts of the party be frozen.”
The petitioner said it was unfortunate that despite the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) order that the case’s hearing must continue, the hearing had once again been deferred today. He claimed that the PTI lawyers were not sure about the arguments they gave in the ECP.
Earlier, during the case’s hearing, member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) remarked that the PTI’s intra-party elections were controversial. A three-member bench, headed by Member Sindh Nisar Durrani, heard the case.
Barrister Gohar said to the bench that the matter would be settled only once the party was issued a certificate. A member of the bench said that the LHC must be requested to end its ‘stay’ in the case.
“There is no such stay my lord!” replied the PTI chairman. Member KP further said to Barrister Gohar that the documents he had submitted were incomplete. Later, the case’s hearing was put off until April 8.
