Category: Media Coverage

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a subtle way has reminded the government that a presidential order cannot overrule constitutional provisions while violation of the Constitution is tantamount to treason. In the petitions filed against the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that two ECP members “have not been appointed in the manner prescribed under Article 213 read with Article 218 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973”. Subsequently, the court taking a lenient view of the matter referred the case to parliament for deciding the controversy related to the ECP members’ appointment by President Dr Arif Alvi. President Alvi, using his ‘discretionary power’, appointed Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from…

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday decided to waste the election material of General Election 2018. According to sources, the ECP has directed all regional and district-level election commissioners to comply with the orders, and dispose of ballot papers, counter files, forms of non-disputed constituencies. However, the election material will be discarded of only those constituencies whose cases were not pending in the election tribunal or courts. The move has been taken in accordance with the Election Act. Published in The Nation

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reiterated that the federal government’s notification with regard to appointment of provincial ECP members is illegal and against the Constitution, in a written reply submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Islamabad based lawyer Jahangir Khan Jadoon on August 27 challenged the appointment of the ECP Sindh and Balochistan members in the IHC and requested it to stop implementation of notification issued by Ministry for Parliamentary Affairs. According to available documents, the ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fatah Muhammad in a three-page reply has adopted the stance that appointment of these members is in violation of the Constitution’s Article 213 as the procedure defined in the Constitution was not followed. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sardar Raza Khan had refused to take oath from both…

IT seems that the issue of appointing two new members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has run into a dead-end after the refusal of the chief election commissioner (CEC) to administer oath to them on grounds of unconstitutionality. Both Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Balochistan’s Munir Ahmad Kakar must have returned home red-faced following the decision by retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza. At heart lies the Supreme Court 2013 ruling which forbids the president from appointing the members of the ECP including the CEC, without fulfilling certain criteria. Now according to the procedure, the new members must be appointed within 45 days after the retirement of previous members in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. After the two leaders reach consensus, the…

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday announced holding the by-election in PS-11 Larkana constituency of Sindh Assembly on October 17. According to the schedule announced by ECP, the candidates could submit their nomination papers for the by-election from 13 to 15 September, according to the schedule. However, the list of the candidates will be displayed on September 15. Earlier in August, the Supreme Court had disqualified Member Sindh Assembly Moazam Ali elected from PS-11 constituency of Larkana. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed had ordered re-election in the provincial constituency. Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) member Moazam Ali was elected from PS-11 (Larkana-II) constituency in July 2018 general elections. The bench had disqualified Moazam Ali for failing to declare his assets and…

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday notified Naeema Kishwar Khan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s member-elect on seat reserved for women from tribal districts. On the other hand the people of tribal districts have sharply criticized this decision of JUI-F leadership as according to them the MPA-elected Naeema Kishwar was not from the tribal region. Talking to The Nation the people hailing from erstwhile Fata said that the decision taken by the JUI-F leadership was entirely against the wishes of tribal people as once again they were not given their right. They added that there were many intelligent and highly qualified women from erstwhile Fata who have the ability to speak for the rights of tribal people and represent them in assemblies…

ISLAMABAD  -   The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday asked the members of the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies to submit their yearly statements of assets and liabilities on or before December 31, 2019. The ECP has also asked the lawmakers to submit the details of assets and liabilities of their spouses and dependent children as on preceding 13th day of June on Form-B. According to the statement issued by the ECP, it was a mandatory requirement under Section 137 of Elections Act 2017, under which members of Senate, National Assembly (NA) and Provincial Assemblies are required to submit the statements of their assets and liabilities with the Election Commission Secretariat including their spouses and dependent children. The ECP explained that it will publish the names of the members who…

ISLAMABAD: The much-awaited session of the Senate during which opposition parties will try to oust through a no-confidence motion its chairman, who is supported by the government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), will take place on Thursday (today). While the opposition was confident on Wednesday that the present incumbent, Sadiq Sanjrani, was on the way out because it enjoyed the support of required number of senators, the government was claiming the move would fail as many opposition senators would vote for Mr Sanjrani “in line with their conscience”. However, a senator from one of the opposition parties mocked the government’s claim and said: “If they are so confident, why have they not named a candidate for the office of deputy chairman?” Because the upper house of parliament is to…

ISLAMABAD - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has taken a serious notice of violation of its code of conduct in NA 205 Gotki, Sindh  by-election. The ECP has directed the Returning Officer (RO) and District Returning Officer (DRO) to obstruct the members of Assembly who are visiting the constituency and violating the code of conduct. As per code of conduct, no public office holder can visit the constituency, where the elections are being held, a Press release issued on Tuesday here said.   Published in The Nation

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday directed all successful candidates of tribal districts of ex-Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to submit details of expenses incurred by them in elections. According to a press release issued by the Commission on Monday, the successful candidates of general and reserved seats have been asked to submit the details to their respective returning officers by 30th of this month. The Commission will not issue official notification to the candidates till submission of election expenditure. Published in The Nation