ECP officially de-notifies 25 dissident PTI lawmakers in Punjab

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officially de-notified on Monday 25 dissident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers elected on general seats as well as five others elected on reserved seats.

“Pursuant to the Order dated the 20th May, 2022 … the Election Commission of Pakistan hereby de-notify the following members Provincial Assembly of Punjab from their respective constituencies in terms of Article 63(4) of the Constitution,” the ECP said in a notification.

Last week, the ECP made a landmark decision to de-seat the 25 PTI MPAs who went against their party and voted for Hamza Shehbaz as chief minister Punjab. The ECP had said this was the “worst form of betraying the electorate and party’s policy.”

Following the verdict, Hamza, who secured 197 votes to become Punjab CM - 11 more than the required 186 - lost the majority in the house.

The 25 lawmakers include Malik Ghulam Rasool Sangha, Saeed Akbar Khan, Muhammad Ajmal, Faisal Hayat, Raja Sagheer Ahmed, Mehar Muhammad Aslam, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Abdul Aleem Khan, Nazir Ahmed Chohan, Fida Hussain, Zahara Batool, Mohammad Sabtain Raza, Mohammad Tahir, Mohsin Atta KhanMalik Asad Ali, Mouammad Amin Zulqrnain, Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial, Mohammad Salman, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Nazir Ahmad Khan.

Uzma Kardar, Aisha Nawaz, Sajida Yousaf, Haroon Imran Gill and Ijaz Masih have also been denotified.

In a tweet, PTI leader Farrukh Habib shared that as per the PTI priority list, the ECP would now appoint Batool Janjua, Saira Raza, and Fauzia Abbas on reserved seats for women.

ECP de-seats PTI dissident MPAs who voted for Hamza as Punjab CM

Last week, the Supreme Court (SC) had also said parliamentarians cannot vote against their party policy.