ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday called its meeting today (Monday) on the request submitted to the Commission by senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Babar Awan and Dr Yasmeen Rashid with regard to enforcement of Section-144 by Punjab caretaker government and stopping the party scheduled election rally.

In a statement, the ECP stated that Chief Election Commissioner called an important meeting of the ECP on Monday at 10:30 pm the applications submitted to the election body by PTI leaders Babar Awan and Dr Yasmin Rashid with regard to the imposition of Section 144 and alleged ban on the election rallies by the Punjab caretaker government.

The PTI had earlier challenged the imposition of Section 144 in Lahore by the Punjab caretaker government ahead of its scheduled rally scheduled to kick off the election campaign by party chairman Imran Khan, who later postponed it himself.

The former prime minister and PTI chairman had announced that he would lead a public rally on Sunday in connection with the election campaign in Punjab.

Awan moved the plea with ECP earlier in the day on the directions of party chairman, urging the ECP to use its power and strike down the imposition of Section 144 in Lahore.

In his plea, Awan maintained that the caretaker Punjab government is trying to stop PTI from election rallies on “pretext” of Pakistan Super League (PSL) cricket matches in Lahore. He stated that the routes of the PTI rally and the PSL match are different, adding that the cricket match will start at 7pm while the rally will end at 5:30pm.

Talking to reporters outside the Election Commission of Pakistan, Awan claimed the government is shutting down the whole city out of the “fear” of Imran Khan. He said that in his application he has urged the ECP to use its powers and strike down the imposition of Section-144 in Lahore.

However, through a tweet, Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi clarified that there has been no ban on election rallies in the province and the restrictions were only for the Sunday cricket match of the PSL.

“There is no ban on political activities. All political parties are freely allowed to campaign. We have restricted Rallies and Political activities for today as we have PSL Cricket Match, team movements and Marathon in Lahore which were all planned and announced much in advance,” Naqvi tweeted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023