Home Latest News LHC Suspends ECP’s De-Notification of 43 PTI Lawmakers

LHC Suspends ECP’s De-Notification of 43 PTI Lawmakers

Electoral body, government issued notices to submit responses in next hearing

by Staff Report

Courtesy LHC

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s de-notification of 43 PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly and stayed the conduct of by-elections in their constituencies until further notice.

Issuing the order on a petition filed by the PTI lawmakers, Justice Shahid Karim questioned which legal requirements were not met in NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s acceptance of the PTI’s resignations. PTI lawyer Ali Zafar maintained that the speaker had failed to hold an inquiry in line with the Constitution, adding that the lawmakers had withdrawn their resignations before they were accepted by Ashraf.

“Once the resignations are retracted, the speaker has no power to accept them,” he argued, claiming the acceptance was “against the law” and “based on malice.” He further argued that the speaker’s order had violated rules set by the Supreme Court, alleging that the resignations had only been accepted for “political revenge.”

The court then suspended Ashraf’s decision and the ECP’s de-notification and issued notices to the federal government and the electoral body for responses in the next hearing.

PTI lawmakers had resigned en masse from the National Assembly in April 2022 after party chief Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence. The party had initially claimed all 123 resignations had been accepted by then-deputy speaker Qasim Suri, but Ashraf had withdrawn the order, saying he needed to individually verify all the resignations before accepting them.

In July, the speaker accepted the resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers. This was followed in January with the quick acceptance of the remaining lawmakers in three phases—35 in the first phase; 34 in the second; and 43 in the third. The ECP has already announced the by-elections schedule for the seats vacated in the first two phases of January, however by-polls on the 43 constituencies have yet to be announced.

The PTI lawmakers whose resignations are suspended in light of the LHC order are as follows: Riaz Khan Fatyana; Nasrullah Khan Dreshak; Tahir Sadiq; Zulfiqar Ali Khan; Haji Imtiaz Chowdry; Malik Muhammad Ehsanullah Tiwana; Raza Nasrullah; Muhammad Mehboob Sultan; Muhammad Ameer Sultan; Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal; Mian Muhammad Shafiq; Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik; Javed Iqbal Warakh; Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi; Niaz Ahmed; Khwaja Sheraz Mehmood; Sardar Mohammad Khan Leghari; Rukhsana Naveed; Seemin Bukhari; Munaza Hassan; Nusrat Wahid; Fauzia Behram; Tashfeen Safdar; Lal Chand; Jai Parkash; Jamshed Thomas; Malik Anwar Taj; Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh; Ghazala Saifi; Syma Nadeem; Naureen Farooque Khan; Uzma Riaz; Shaheen Niaz Saifullah; Gul Zafar Khan; Jawad Hussain; Rahat Amanullah Bhatti; Sobia Kamal Khan; Nausheed Hamid; Rubina Jamil; Nafeesa Inayatullah Khattak; Sajida Zulfqar; Zile Huma; Shunila Ruth.

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