ISLAMABAD: All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML) founded by the late president Pervez Musharraf approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge the Oct 13 decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to delist the party and cancellation of its election symbol ‘eagle’.

Filed by incumbent party president Jahan Zarin, the petition urged the SC to set aside the ECP’s decision for being “erroneous and against the law” and sought a direction to restrain the commission from allotting the election symbol of eagle to any other political party.

APML was registered as the political party on Oct 1, 2010, under the chairmanship of Pervez Musharraf and actively participated in the national elections along with other political parties registered under Political Parties Order, 2002.

Petitioner urges SC to restrain ECP from allotting election symbol of ‘eagle’ to any other party

A revised list of office-bearers, duly signed by the party chairman, was submitted to the ECP in 2019 and after the scrutiny of the list by the relevant department the commission decided that the position of Pervez Musharaf had been changed from ‘Chairman’ to ‘Quaid’.

But the commission’s relevant department did not inform the petitioner to rectify the discrepancy, the petition pointed out.

The ECP later took up this “petty discrepancy” and converted it into a marathon of judicial proceedings against the APML, the petition regretted.

Due to the resignation of former APML chairman Mohammad Hidayatullah Khan Kheshgi, the petition explained, the intra-party elections could not be held on time. The commission then advised the former chairman to hold the intra-party elections and submit a requisite report.

However, the ECP on its own issued notice to different office-bearers of the party, highlighting an internal dispute among the leaders and members of the party. In response to the ECP notice, the petitioner filed an application under Sections 209 and 215 read with Section 4 of the Elections Act, 2017.

On Nov 7, 2021 a meeting of the central working committee was held in which it was unanimously decided that Ashraf Ali Keranvi be nominated as acting chairman to look after the party affairs till the announcement of intra-party elections. Later, the intra-party elections were held on Jan 12, 2022, and necessary documents were submitted with the ECP office.

According to the petition, the entire process was conducted in a proper manner and no violation was committed. It said that even the video recording of the entire process was also made to ensure just and fair election and that the elected office-bearers were true representatives of the APML.

Yet the ECP delisted the APML as a political party and rejected its application for the allocation of symbol of “Shaheen”, the petition informed the apex court.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2023