ECP notifies de-seating 25 PTI Punjab Assembly MPAs

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a notification de-seating 25 Punjab Assembly MPAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for defying party policy.

The notification was in pursuant of the order on May 20 whereby the ECP disqualified the lawmakers under Article 63A (1)(b)(i) of the Constitution.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has earlier written a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja requesting him to stop Hamza Shehbaz from working as the Punjab chief minister.

The request was filed by the PTI’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry following ECP’s decision on May 20 regarding de-seating 25 PTI MPAs for defying party directives and voting for Hamza for the post of the provincial chief executive.

The Supreme Court has earlier ruled that the votes of defecting lawmakers would not be counted. This decision left the fate of the newly elected chief minister Punjab hanging in the balance.

“Hamza Shahbaz has lost the majority in the Punjab Assembly after the decision of the election commission,” the letter stated. “Deciding on the reference, the election commission has terminated the membership of 25 deviant members,” it maintained.

It further urged the commission should de-notify the dissident MPAs. In the letter, the party requested that Batool Janjua, Saira Raza, and Fauzia Abbas should be notified on the women’s seats whereas Habkook Gul and Samuel Yaqub to be nominated on minority seats.

Chief Election Commissioner announced the unanimous verdict. In its 23-page order, the ECP said that the MPAs voted against the party line and were liable to be de-seated according to the law.

18 of the 25 lawmakers were part of estranged PTI leader Jehangir Tareen’s group, 5 belong to Aleem Khan Group, and the other two belong to Asad Khokhar Group.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervez Elahi had filed the reference with the ECP against the MPAs under Article 63-A of the Constitution for voting in favour of PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz in the election for the Punjab chief minister.

The dissident lawmakers include Abdul Aleem Khan, Raja Sagheer Ahmed, Malik Ghulam Rasool Sangha, Saeed Akbar Khan, Mohammad Ajmal, Nazir Ahmed Chohan, Mohammad Amin Zulqernain, Malik Nauman Langrial, Mohammad Salman, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Nazir Ahmed Khan, Fida Hussain, Zahra Batool, Mohammad Tahir, Aisha Nawaz, Sajida Yousaf, Haroon Imran Gill, Uzma Kardar, Malik Asad Ali, Ijaz Masih, Mohammad Sabtain Raza, Mohsin Atta Khan Khosa, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Faisal Hayat and Mehar Mohammad Aslam.