ISLAMABAD: The Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) with a 3-2 majority has rejected a reference filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan seeking disqualification of his party’s MNA Aaisha Gulalai for “violation of party rules”.

The ECP members from Punjab and Balochistan have decided to submit their notes of dissent with the detailed judgement which would be released later, according to the short order released on Tuesday by the ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza.

“For detailed reasons recorded separately and by a majority of three to two (Mr Justice (retd) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi and Mr Justice (retd) Shakeel Ahmed Baloch, dissenting), the reference is hereby answered in the negative,” reads the short order.

The PTI termed the ECP’s decision a “blow to parliamentary democracy” and hinted at challenging the order before the superior courts.

Last week the ECP had reserved its judgement in the disqualification reference against Ms Gulalai after completion of arguments from both sides.

PTI terms decision ‘blow to parliamentary democracy’

Ms Gulalai, who had been elected MNA on a seat reserved for women from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was represented by her lawyer Barrister Masroor Shah, whereas Sikandar Bashir Mohmand appeared before the ECP on behalf of the PTI chief.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had forwarded the reference to the ECP in August after receiving it from Mr Khan.

The PTI chief had sought disqualification of the MNA for allegedly violating party discipline and abstaining from voting for the party-designated candidate in the election for the office of prime minister, which the party believed constituted a valid and actionable ground under Articles 63A(1)(a) and 63A(1)(b)(i) for declaring her a defector.

Hailing from Bannu, Ms Gulalai shot to prominence when she publicly accused Mr Khan and his “gang” of having “immoral character”, alleging that Mr Khan forwarded inappropriate and explicit text messages to her and other party women.

Ms Gulalai was present at the ECP at the time of the announcement of the verdict in her favour.

During the previous hearing, Mr Khan’s counsel Sikandar Bashir Mohmand had argued that Ms Gulalai had no right to retain the National Assembly seat since she had announced quitting the party.

Mr Mohmand had argued that Ms Gulalai had no constituency and was nominated by the party leadership to represent the party in the assembly on the reserved seat. Therefore, he was of the view that she should be de-seated merely on declaration by the party chief.

He had also claimed that Ms Gulalai had violated party laws by abstaining from the vote although she was present at a meeting in which the party had decided to field Sheikh Rashid Ahmed as its candidate for the post of the prime minister and Mr Khan had notified all party members to support the party nominee.

Ms Gulalai, however, claims that she had not participated in the vote due to an illness, but the PTI’s lawyer presented a record of television talk shows in which she had appeared at a time when the National Assembly was in session.

Talking to reporters after the ECP’s order in her favour, Ms Gulalai once again lashed out at Mr Khan and accused him of “always spreading anarchy and chaos” in the country. She criticised Mr Khan for allegedly targeting constitutional institutions in his speeches.

She alleged that instead of paying attention to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he kept on staging sit-ins in Islamabad and spreading anarchy.

Meanwhile, the PTI through a letter to the Cabinet Division has sought the details of the “special favours” given to the CEC by the federal government.

The letter has been written by party spokesman Fawad Chaudhry in which he had questioned as to why the CEC had been using a 4800cc car whereas under the rules, he is authorised to use a 1600cc car. He has also sought the details of the CEC’s assets.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2017