ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) is now the only major party among the 100-odd political parties that still do not qualify to contest the coming elections for either failing to hold intra-party polls or disclosing the details of their accounts. According to the latest official list issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), there are 103 political parties — out of the 227 registered parties — which had not submitted the details of due intra-party elections or the details of their assets as required under the Political Parties Order (PPO) 2002 to become eligible to obtain election symbols.

The ECP had previously issued a similar list on Feb 12 containing the names of Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), for not holding the intra-party elections, and the Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for not submitting the details of its assets. The PML-Q, which is registered with the name of the PML, held intra-party elections last week.

Though the MQM has regularly been submitting the accounts details for the past 10 years, its statement for the year 2010 was pending, according to the ECP. The party recently submitted the required documents to the ECP which acknowledged that the MQM had now become eligible to contest the elections.

It is expected that the PTI will also become eligible to contest the elections since the party is presently in the process of holding intra-party polls.

The latest list of the parties which are yet to qualify for the polls includes the names of Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A) and National Party (NP), the two parties presently having representation in the parliament. The BNP-A had held its intra-party elections in November 2006 whereas the NP’s last elections were held in May 2004. The list also contains the names of now dysfunctional Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and National Alliance.

It was after issuance of a similar warning by the ECP in December last year that the ruling PPP, registered with the name of PPP Parliamentarians, fulfilled the requirement of intra-party elections by announcing on Jan 26 that all its office-bearers had returned unopposed in the elections.

These elections have now been challenged through a petition before the ECP by the two party dissidents — Dr Safdar Abbasi and MNA Agha Nasir Shah.

The two estranged PPP leaders in a joint petition have urged the ECP to declare the intra-party elections as farcical and a mala fide exercise ‘only on paper’ that failed to fulfil the statuary requirements of the PPO 2002. As a consequential relief, they prayed to the commission not to allocate any election symbol to the party for the general election.