ISLAMABAD: The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has observed that the election tribunals have failed to dispose of 89 percent of the election dispute petitions which as per law should have been disposed of within 180 days of filing, subject to the time spent resolving objections on petitions.
A report released here on Friday by FAFEN said that since the announcement of general elections held on February 8, 2024, the election tribunals have disposed of only 11 percent election related petitions.
Election Tribunals have disposed of just 40 petitions out of the 334 until October 10, 2024, the FAFEN said and added that it has identified a total of 377 petitions, but could not obtain full information on 43 petitions in Punjab.
Of the 40 disposed of petitions, four pertained to National Assembly seats, while the remaining 36 related to Provincial Assembly seats, regionally, Balochistan tribunals have disposed of more than half of the filed petitions as 28 out of 51 election related cases have been decided.
The ECP recently notified eight election tribunals in Punjab after a prolonged legal disagreement with the Lahore High Court, but these tribunals have yet to commence proceedings. The slow pace of disposals in other provinces, coupled with the late start of tribunals in Punjab, makes it unlikely that all pending petitions will be resolved soon.
Of the 40 disposed of petitions, four pertained to National Assembly seats, while the remaining 36 related to Provincial Assembly seats. Regionally, Balochistan tribunals have disposed of more than half of their petitions (28 out of 51), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) tribunals have resolved 10 percent (four out of 42), and Sindh tribunals have resolved seven percent (six out of 83). In Punjab, only two out of 155 petitions have been decided, and none of the three petitions from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) have been resolved.
With the exception of two tribunals in Balochistan, no tribunal has rendered a verdict of any petition after a full trial. Most of the petitions have been dismissed on technical grounds. Regarding the National Assembly, two petitions from Sindh and one each from Balochistan and KP have been resolved. For Provincial Assemblies, 27 petitions from Balochistan, four from Sindh, three from KP, and two from Punjab have been resolved.
Of the 40 disposed petitions, three were accepted, and 37 were dismissed. The three accepted petitions were filed by losing candidates for the Provincial Assembly seats in Balochistan – two by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUIP) and one by a National Party (NP) candidate. These petitions were filed against winning candidates from the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). In all three cases, re-polling in specific polling stations was ordered.
Among the 37 dismissed petitions, 11 were deemed non-maintainable due to non-compliance of mandatory legal requirement in filing the election petitions, 15 were dismissed for lack of evidence, seven were withdrawn by the petitioners, two were dismissed for non-prosecution, and the reasons for two could not be determined due to unavailable judgments.
Of the dismissed petitions, 11 were filed by PPPP candidates, seven by unaffiliated independents, three each by JUI-P and NP, two each by independent candidates backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP), and one each by Awami National Party (ANP), BAP, Balochistan National Party (BNP), Balochistan National Party Awami (BNPA), Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP).
Among the dismissed petitions, nine each were filed against returned candidates of PML-N and PPPP, six against PTI-backed independents, four against JUIP, three against unaffiliated independents, two against NP, and one each against returned candidates from BNPA, BNP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP), and BAP.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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