ECP stays notification of new lawmakers on Punjab Assembly's reserved seats

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday stayed the notification of new MPAs on five seats of the Punjab Assembly after they fell vacant following the de-seating of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) dissident lawmakers, Aaj News reported.

In its ruling, the electoral body said that the notification would be stayed until by-elections are held."

Last month, ECP had made a landmark decision to de-seat the 25 PTI MPAs who went against their party and voted for Hamza Shehbaz as chief minister of Punjab.

The ECP had said that dissident lawmakers' decision represented the “worst form of betraying the electorate and party’s policy.”

The de-notified lawmakers were elected on general and reserved seats.

ECP officially de-notifies 25 dissident PTI lawmakers in Punjab

On May 28, PTI filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), requesting it to direct the ECP to notify the five new MPAs and "summon [them] personally."

Taking up the petition, the court had given the ECP a deadline of June 2 to decide on the issue.

Responding to the ECP's ruling, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that his party would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.

"I said earlier that the Election Commission of Pakistan would go to any lengths to keep Hamza Shehbaz in power," he said in a Twitter post, adding: "Article 224 has been suspended in practice. We will go to Supreme Court against this decision."

The votes of dissident lawmakers were considered significant for Hamza Shehbaz, who secured 197 votes to become the Chief Minister of Punjab - 11 more than the required 186.