https://arab.news/ctxgr
- Khan-backed independent candidates had challenged victory notifications for three National Assembly seats in Islamabad
- Two of these seats were won by nominees of Sharif’s party, while a winning independent later announced joining the ex-PM
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) victory notifications of three candidates for the National Assembly, in a blow to three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party.
The three candidates included two nominees of Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, Tariq Fazl Chaudhry and Anjum Aqeel, and an independent candidate, Raja Khurram Nawaz, who later announced joining the PML-N.
A two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, suspended the victory notifications of these candidates while hearing pleas filed by opposing independent candidates, backed by jailed former PM Imran Khan.
“At this stage, we are not inclined to suspend the proceedings [on challenges] before the ECP [against the victory of these candidates], which shall be taken to their logical conclusion and if need be, a notification of the returned candidate be issued,” read a copy of the court verdict seen by Arab News.
“However, until this process is completed, the operation of the [victory] notification dated 11.02.2024 which was impugned in writ petition No.499/2024 is suspended.”
The court ordered the ECP to address all pending challenges before notifying winning candidates and fixed the next hearing of the case on Feb. 22.
Pakistan held its national election on Feb. 8, which was marred by result delays and allegations of vote-rigging by several political parties, including Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
These parties have since staged several demonstrations across the country, demanding a judicial investigation into what they say was an “election fraud.” The ECP and the caretaker government deny the allegations.
Ali Bukhari, a Khan-backed candidate and one of the petitioners who moved the IHC, said the ECP has summoned them on Tuesday.
“We will go and present the evidence to the ECP of our victory and will request them to issue the result as per Form 45 [results given to candidates or their representatives at polling stations],” he told Arab News.
“Our petition challenging the result was pending before the ECP, which had issued a restraining order after our challenge, while simultaneously issuing a victory notification.”
PML-N’s Aqeel, whose victory had been suspended, was confident that the ECP would ultimately notify his victory.
“We have won this election by a significant margin and are not afraid [of anything],” he told Arab News. “We have no issue with the ECP rechecking all the constituency results.”