ISLAMABAD: The war of words between the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) touched new heights on Thursday after former prime minister Imran Khan accused the Chief Election Commissioner of taking “biased decisions” against his party and the ECP dismissed the PTI’s pronouncements as “a premeditated attempt to malign the commission”.

Through a statement the CEC regretted a perception was being created that decisions were taken by an individual at the ECP, saying the accusation was contrary to facts on ground.

Rejecting the PTI chairman’s “unfounded” accusations, the ECP said: “The Election Commission is a constitutional body which takes all decisions in light of the Constitution and the law.

“Certain elements are deliberately trying to give an impression that decisions are being made individually in the ECP, which is wrong and contrary to facts.”

The ECP stated that all the decisions taken from January 2020 to date were taken by consensus and there was not a single decision in which a dissenting note had to be written. “There is complete harmony between the CEC and the commission’s members.

“The ECP shall continue to take decisions in the best interests of the country, under the Constitution and in accordance with the oath, without any pressure.”

The statement came after PTI Chairman Imran Khan accused Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja of being an agent of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and called upon him to step down immediately.

“The PTI doesn’t have confidence in the chief election commissioner. When the country’s biggest party doesn’t have confidence in CEC, he must resign.

“CEC Raja doesn’t have the right to hold the post, He makes decisions alone and all his decisions are against the PTI,” Imran Khan alleged.

Touching upon the foreign funding case against his party, the ex-premier called for initiating similar cases against other major political parties.

Imran Khan alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to forge evidence against “my party in the foreign funding case”.

Dissident PTI MNAs

The chief election commissioner told reporters the ECP would conclude the case of PTI’s defecting MNAs within 30 days.

A three-member bench of the ECP heard the reference seeking disqualification of 20 defecting MNAs under Article 63(A), while the body reserved its verdict on a plea that it could not hear the references as the retirement of two members had left the commission incomplete.

At the outset of the hearing, the chief election commissioner had said the body would call in every dissident member and hear “the other side of the story”.

Dissident MNA Noor Alam Khan’s counsel told the three-member bench that his client had neither resigned from his party nor had he joined another political party at the time of the no-confidence motion.

“Also, this commission is incomplete and hence it cannot hear this case. A similar case was brought before the ECP in 2015 and at that time the Election Commission had ordered that only a complete commission could hear such cases,” he recalled.

The PTI lawyer raised objections over reservations aired by Noor Alam’s counsel that an incomplete commission could not hear the reference seeking disqualification of dissident MNAs.

“They can hear other cases, not this one [...] and the reason for this commission being incomplete is that political leaders do not communicate with one another,” Noor Alam’s lawyer asserted.

After hearing the arguments, the chief election commissioner said National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf should submit his reply.

“The commission holds a fair hearing. The speaker can take a copy of the reference and submit his response on May 6. We will wrap up the case in 30 days,” the CEC said.

Raja Sikandar Sultan put off the hearing till May 6 — the day when 26 members of the Punjab Assembly are to appear before the ECP over the disqualification plea against them.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2022