ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed on Thursday by-elections on 13 legislative seats; 10 National Assembly seats falling in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh, as well as, three Punjab Assembly seats, which were scheduled in this and next month, citing “national emergency” triggered by flash floods and “law and order situation” in KP, whereas, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PPP handed an outright rejection to the ECP’s decision. The PTI has rejected the ECP’s decision on the grounds that none of the constituencies where the polls were postponed witnessed flash flooding.
Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted in reaction to the ECP’s decision: “How long will IK remain ladla? my Multan & Karachi candidates r frustrated by sudden postponement of by-elections. They are eager to start serving their constituents who have been left without representation for too long. no need to allow PTI to run away from elections at 11th hr.”
By-elections were scheduled on an NA and two PA seats on September 11; NA-157 Multan, PP-139 Sheikhupura, and PP-241 Bhawalnagar.
These polls were scheduled on nine NA seats on September 25: NA-22 Mardan, NA-24 Charsadda, NA-31 Peshawar, NA-45 Kurram, NA-108 Faisalabad, NA-118 Nankana Sahib, NA-237 Malir, NA-239 Korangi, and NA-246 South Karachi. And the by-election was scheduled on one PA seat; PP-209 Khanewal on October 2. The decision to postpone the by-polls was taken in an ECP meeting presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
The PTI rejected this decision. “There is fear and panic in the corridors of power due to the ever-rising popularity of Imran Khan,” PTI Secretary General Asad Umar said in a statement.
“ECP should explain if there has been any flooding recorded in Faisalabad, Multan, Khanewal, Bhawalnagar, Sheikhupura, Nanakana Sahib, Charsadda, Peshawar, Mardan, and Kurram,” PTI Central Information Secretary Farrukh Habib deplored.
“Are you running away from Imran Khan’s popularity? These stealthy methods are harming this country—hold general elections immediately,” he said.
Of the 13 seats, PP-139 Sheikhupura fell vacant due to the resignation of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Jalil Sharqpuri who announced having parted ways with the N-League ahead of by-elections on 20 PA seats held in July.
PP-241 Bahawalnagar fell vacant due to the disqualification of PML-N MPA Kashif Mehmood bythe Islamabad High Court (IHC) and then the Supreme Court in a fake degree case. Mehmood was disqualified in the fake degree case by the IHC in January 2020 and by the apex court in November 2021. However, the electoral body did not de-notify Mehmood’s legislative membership for over eight months, saying, it did not receive the court’s orders. Mehmood was finally de-notified in July.
The PTI’s Zain Qureshi was the Member National Assembly (MNA) from NA-157 Multan. He decided to vacate this seat following his victory from PA seat PP-217 Multan in July by-elections, in which PTI grabbed 15 of the 20 seats.
A PML-N MPA Faisal Khan Niazi from PP-209 Khanewal had also resigned from his seat ahead of July by-polls and announced to join the PTI.
The remaining nine NA seats are those that were notified as vacant by the ECP after NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf accepted the resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers (including two legislators on reserved seats) in July.
Ali Muhammad Khan (NA-22 Mardan), Fazal Muhammad Khan (NA-24 Charsadda), Shaukat Ali (NA-31 Peshawar), Fakhar Zaman (NA-45 Kurram), Farrukh Habib (NA-108 Faisalabad), Ijaz Shah (NA-118 Nankana Sahib), Jamil Khan (NA-237 Malir-Karachi), Muhammad Akram(NA-239 Korangi-Karachi),Shakoor Shad(NA-246 South- Karachi), Dr Shireen Mazari(reserved seat-Punjab), and Shandana Gulzar (reserved seat– KP) were the lawmakers de-notified by the ECP.
In April this year, some 131 out of a total of 155 PTI MNAs resigned from the NA and submitted their resignations to the speaker NA after the then Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from the office through a no-confidence motion lodged by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
One PTI MNA Aamir Liaquat passed away last month in June this year and by-election on his seat NA-245 Karachi was held in July that was won by the PTI. Of the remaining 154 PTI MNAs, the NA speaker has approved the resignations of only 11 MNAs allegedly out of politically-motivated reasons.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022