ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday rejected a review petition calling for holding provincial assembly polls in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) at the time of upcoming general election.A five-member ECP bench announced the decision on the petition, seeking review of the electoral body’s previous verdict on the matter last week.In his arguments, Barrister Farogh Naseem, representing three petitioners in the case, argued that two more months were required to carry out delimitation in erstwhile Fata to hold elections on provincial assembly seats in the region. “If the elections are delayed by two months it would not make any difference,” he said.The ECP bench then reserved its decision on the plea and announced the verdict shortly afterwards. The review petition was filed by the Muttahida Qabail Party, members of which had been holding demonstrations in the federal capital since the past a few weeks demanding that the polls be held in Fata at the same time as the rest of Pakistan.In another development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Nasir Cheema from Gujranwala's constituency PP-62 appeared to be trouble for displaying images of the army chief and chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) during his poll campaign. The Chief Election Commissioner made an interesting remark during the hearing and asked Cheema if they are related to him and what the army chief and CJP have link to the elections and on what basis he put up their pictures.The ECP has already directed political parties and candidates to desist from using pictures of irrelevant figures during their election campaigns.In response to the remark by the CEC, Cheema claimed that the poll campaign material was displayed before the announcement of the election schedule. However, this did not convince the bench and he was asked to explain why those images were put on display.The ECP directed Cheema to submit a written reply and asked him to give reasons as to why he should not be stopped from contesting the elections. The hearing was adjourned till July 9.
07-03-2018, 06:49 PM
ECP rejects Fata petition seeking simultaneous polling
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