Election Commission of Pakistan Issues Contradictory Press Release Despite Supreme Court Ruling

Islamabad:Despite the recent Supreme Court ruling, the Election Commission of Pakistan’s issued press release appears to contradict the court’s decision on the allocation of special seats.

During the court hearings and in its verdict, the Supreme Court stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan misinterpreted its January 13, 2024 ruling (regarding inter-party elections in PTI), wrongly exempting PTI’s mentioned candidates from disqualification.

The Election Commission, after deliberating for two days on the Supreme Court’s majority decision, released a press release asserting that it did not misinterpret any ruling. The Commission did not validate PTI’s inter-party election as correct, against which PTI approached various forums, resulting in the stay order on the Commission’s decision.

Since PTI’s inter-party elections were deemed incorrect, which logically lead to Section 215 of the Election Act, the blame on the Election Commission is highly inappropriate.

Without referring to the Supreme Court’s majority decision paragraphs 7 and 8, the Election Commission has clarified its position in the press release and hinted towards the Sunni Ittehad Council’s appeal against the Election Commission and Peshawar High Court’s decision being rejected.