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The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reserved its decision on the requests of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) to keep the intra-party election case pending until the apex court clarified the matter, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported.
On July 23, the ECP gave time to the Imran Khan-founded party to submit documents regarding its intra-party polls. The ECP had taken up the matter. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Uzair Bhandari Advocate appeared before the commission. At the outset of the hearing, Bhandari stated that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raided their offices and took all the records, according to The Express Tribune report. He further said they did not have original documents and electronic records. He said that the records could be obtained from the FIA if the electoral watchdog ordered. During the hearing, Bhandari said that the electoral watchdog had sent a questionnaire to PTI, in which the first question was about the current status of the PTI. He further said that the response to the question was given in the short order of the Supreme Court in the reserved seats case. Bhandari said, "The Supreme Court declared that the Tehreek-e-Insaaf was and is a political party." On that ECP's member Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa mentioned that the ECP had never said that the PTI was not a registered political party, The Express Tribune reported. He said, "If we wait for the Supreme Court's detailed judgment, this matter will be clarified." He stated that the ECP had sought clarification from the apex court regarding the reserved seats, saying that Imran Khan's party had no administrative structure. He further said that PTI did not accept ECP in this position. The ECP member told the lawyer that the electoral watchdog had not moved the apex court on the matter of the PTI's intra-party polls. However, it had requested the Supreme Court to clarify as to whose certificate would be recognised in the matter of distribution of the reserved seats to the PTI. Gohar said that 39 lawmakers already recognised by the ECP as PTI members were issued the party certificates by him. The ECP member told the PTI chairman that those were recognised as the PTI members on the orders of the Supreme Court and not due to Gohar's signature, according to The Express Tribune report. The lawyer said that the Supreme Court's decision was before the ECP and emphasised that the ECP could not take a decision on whether the intra-party elections of the political parties were correct or not. Bhandari requested the electoral watchdog not to hear the case further until the apex court releases its detailed judgment. (ANI)
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