ECP directs PTI to submit reply by July 10

ISLAMABAD – Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday directed PTI to submit its reply in foreign funding case by July 10.

The Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza directed the PTI legal counsel Shahid Gondal to file the reply by July 10.

The Chief Election Commissioner, while hearing the petition filed by a founding member of PTI Akbar S Babar, held that the ECP has powers to scrutinise the accounts details of PTI.

He made these remarks when Imrna Khan’s counsel Shahid Gondal filed a petition seeking indefinite postponement of the hearing in foreign funding case.

Gondal requested that the cases filed by Akbar S Babar and Hashim Ali Bhutta are having same nature so Butta’s application should be postponed indefinitely, while Bhutta’s lawyer rejected and opposed Gondal’s request. Later talking to newsmen outside the Election Commission, Akbar. S. Babar said PTI is continuously avoiding submitting a reply to the commission. He said Imran Khan has been collecting funds from overseas Pakistanis in the name of change.

Meanwhile, Shah Malik Yousafzai, PTI Swabi district President moved to the ECP to challenge recent intra-party polls as illegal and requested the ECP to declare them illegal and order for re-election.

In these intra-party polls, Azam Swati, PTI Chief Election Commissioner, was declared successful by “Insaf Panel”. He received 189,055 votes while “Ehtesab Panel” got 41,647.

Around 2 million members of the party sent their votes via SMS. Supporting members of Ehtesab Panel were less in number and was in opposition to Insaf Panel, a bigwig and a major player. ECP allowed PTI to use “Cricket Bat” as their electoral symbol.

Source: The Nation