A former secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan Kanwar Dilshad, said on Saturday that the election watchdog has powers to ban Prime Minister Imran Khan's party if the accusations levelled by Akbar S Babar are proven true.
"If accusations levelled by Akbar S Babar are proven true then the ECP has powers under Section 212 to ban the party," the former ECP official told a private television channel.
Babar, a disgruntled founding member of the PTI, filed a petition in the ECP accusing the party of corruption and receiving illegal funding from abroad on November 14, 2014.
Recently, the ECP had accepted the opposition parties' petition in the case and said it would be holding hearings every day.
Dilshad believes that the PTI will lose its government and Imran Khan will lose the premiership if the accusations against the party are proven true.
"If a party gets banned, it will be deprived of provincial and national assembly seats," the former ECP official said, adding that PM Khan will also lose his seat if it happens.
The PTI, however, believes that the party can not be banned even if the decision in the foreign funding case comes against the party.
"According to the laws, the ECP is not a court or a tribunal," Punjab Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan said. The minister said that the Supreme Court is the "last authority" that can impose any restriction on any political party. Chohan explained that the ECP could only seize the money if the allegations of illegal foreign funding are proven.
Comments
Comments are closed.