ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a reference seeking disqualification of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan.

The reference was forwarded to ECP by Speaker of National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on the basis of an application by PML-N leader Babar Nawaz, who lost to Omar Ayub from NA-118, Haripur, by a huge margin of 82000 votes in the 2024 general election. During the hearing of the reference, the counsel representing Babar Nawaz argued that he was not demanding a re-election, but rather a recount of votes due to alleged irregularities.

He claimed that thousands of fake votes were cast and that the result was not properly consolidated. In response, a member of the ECP, Babar Bharwana, questioned the legal standing of the case, asking whether any precedent existed where an election was annulled by the ECP without tribunal’s proceedings.

He pointed out that arguments should have been presented before the returning officer (RO), where the petitioner failed to appear.

The petitioner’s lawyer highlighted that 11,500 votes were rejected and over 362,000 votes were reportedly cast in 540 minutes — an average of one vote every 2 minutes and 15 seconds —which he termed implausible.

Mr Ayub’s counsel countered by stating that Babar Nawaz had accepted defeat on social media and that the PML-N candidate had publicly congratulated Omar Ayub on his victory.

He said that no substantial evidence of rigging was provided. Following the arguments, the ECP reserved its verdict.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2025