ISLAMABAD: A day after Awami National Party (ANP) announced to move court against the electoral entity over not listing Aimal Wali Khan as ANP chief in its record, the poll body, Thursday, officially declared him as the party President.

To this effect, a notification related to ANP intra-party polls, issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), declared all the 38 party office-bearers as having elected unopposed.

The notification lists Aimal as ANP President and Muhammad Daud as Senior Vice President. It does not include Aimal’s father and former party president Asfandyar Wali Khan among the 38 party office-bearers.

The ANP had submitted its intra-party elections certificate to the ECP this May. But, a list, containing 166 political parties and a political alliance (Grand Democratic Alliance), recently issued by the ECP, still listed Asfandyar as party President.

On Wednesday, the ANP announced to move court against the ECP for not listing Aimal as ANP President in its record.

The ECP political parties’ list does not specify anyone as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, leaving this slot as vacant. On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif was elected unopposed as Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz President (PML-N) this May 28, notified by the ECP.

While the commission accepted the ANP intra-party polls in over three months, and that of Sharif’s elevation as N-League chief in less than three months, the PTI intra-party polls case sees a prolonged delay for over two years, under highly questionable circumstances, amidst serious allegations of foul play involving ECP.

Last December, the ECP decided against the PTI in the intra-party elections case, following which, the PTI was deprived of its iconic election symbol of bat. The PTI candidates had to contest the February 8 general elections as independents due to denial of election symbol to them by the poll body.

Before the Supreme Court’s landmark reserved seats verdict, PTI’s right to participate in the elections mainly hinged on the ECP decision in intra-party polls case that has lost its significance in the aftermath of the top court’s decision in the reserved seats case, according to a former senior ECP official.

The SC ruled in its landmark July 12 reserved seats case verdict that the “lack or denial of an election symbol does not in any manner affect the constitutional and legal rights of a political party to participate in an election (whether general or by) and to field candidates and the commission is under a constitutional duty to act, and construe and apply all statutory provisions, accordingly.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024