ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification declaring jailed Baldev Kumar as the returned candidate on a reserved seat for non-Muslims in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.

“The decision as to who will represent whom in the assembly cannot be taken by the ECP as it is the prerogative of political parties,” PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq said in a statement issued on Saturday.

He said Baldev Kumar had been involved in the killing of Sardar Soran Singh, a member of the provincial assembly (MPA), and had been expelled from the PTI after facts about the murder case were revealed. He said the PTI had formally informed the ECP about its decision to nominate Ravi Kumar in place of Baldev Kumar.

Mr Haq warned that the assemblies would become dens of criminals if the ECP did not change its attitude.

Soran Singh, who was also special assistant to the KP chief minister on minority affairs, was shot dead near his house in the Pir Baba area of Buner district on April 23. The police had arrested Baldev Kumar and two others in connection with the killing within 24 hours of the incident and the suspects are still in jail.

After the 2013 general elections, the PTI had submitted to the ECP a list of its candidates for seats reserved for non-Muslims in the house with Soran Singh being its first priority and Baldev Kumar the second.

After the arrest of Baldev Kumar, police officials had alleged at a press conference that he had killed Soran Singh because he wanted to become an MPA. They said Kumar had confessed to his involvement in the killing.

An ECP official said the rules were very clear and the commission could not deviate from the priority list submitted by the PTI.

He said Baldev Kumar would cease to be an MPA if he was convicted by the court of law and the person on number three slot in the list would replace him as a member of the assembly.

He said section 47A of the Representation of People’s Act read, “Party lists for reserved seats: for the purpose of election to seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies, the political parties contesting election for such seats shall... file separate lists of their candidates in order of priority for seats reserved for women and non-Muslims with the Chief Election Commissioner or, as he may direct, with the Provincial Election Commissioner...”

He said the lists could not be amended or altered before they were exhausted.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2016