Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf calls for ECP’s resignation after reserved seats verdict
Islamabad [Pakistan], March 5 (ANI): Senator Ali Zafar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called for the resignation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after it denied the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) request seeking allocation of reserved seats in the National Assembly, reported ARY News. He also termed the ECP’s verdict, "the last dagger in the heart of democracy."Speaking on the Senate floor on Sunday, the PTI senator further requested that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja be charged with treason under Article 6 of the Constitution. The senator added that the PTI has drafted a resolution in this regard and would present it soon. "They [ECP] cannot stay in this position for a minute longer," he said, adding that the poll body had once again violated the Constitution through this verdict, according to ARY News. "If our share is being given to other parties then this is a constitutional mistake that the ECP has committed," he said, claiming that the verdict had proven that ECP failed to fulfil its responsibility of holding free and fair elections, ARY News reported. He pointed out that the presidential and Senate elections could not be conducted in an "incomplete house". "Until the national and provincial assemblies are complete, elections can’t be held for these constitutional positions. "We have chosen to contest the ECP ruling," he said, according to ARY News. In a major setback for the already embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled that the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which is backed by Imran Khan-founded party, is "not eligible" for the reserved seats allotted to women and minorities. The commission’s five-member bench -- headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja -- announced the split decision with a 4-1 majority. The remaining 77 reserved seats will now be allotted to other political parties, as reported by Geo News. "The electoral body said the SIC cannot claim the share in the reserved seats for women "due to non-curable procedural and legal defects and violations of mandatory provisions of the Constitution."Notably, ECP Punjab member Hassan Bharwana dissented with the majority verdict, which was reserved on February 28. In the dissenting note, ECP Punjab chapter member Bharwana said he partially agreed with the majority verdict that the reserved seats cannot be allocated to SIC, as the priority list was not submitted in time. "However, I have dissenting views with regard to the allocation of seats by way of proportional representation to the other political parties," Geo News quoted him as saying. Meanwhile, PTI has criticised the ruling and said that it will be challenging the ECP verdict in the higher court. (ANI)