Islamadad’s three constituencies: ECP reinstates suspended notification of successful candidates

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reinstated the suspended notification of successful candidates from three constituencies of the federal capital.

The ECP has restored the notification of victory for the successful candidates in NA-46, NA-47, and NA-48 - all of whom belonged to the PML-N - under Section 98-1 of the Elections Act, 2017.

Therefore, the victory notification for PML-N's Anjum Aqeel from NA-46, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry from NA-47, and party-backed independent candidate Raja Khurram Nawaz from NA-48 stood reinstated.

The decision comes after the Election Commission had initially suspended the notifications on January 11, following an order from the Islamabad High Court.

Speaking to the media outside the ECP, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that they had approached the commission to seek decisions in their favour, highlighting the importance of the restoration of their notifications.

Chaudhry further addressed the ongoing alleged propaganda surrounding the three constituencies, recalling the recent suspension of the notifications by the IHC on February 19. He asserted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had got the notifications halted citing fraud and propaganda, a move which has now been overturned by the election commission's decision.

In another case, the commission has published the names of returned candidates for the seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Sindh. According to different notifications of the commission, in the Punjab Assembly, 42 candidates for women seats while five candidates for non-Muslims have been notified.

Similarly, the commission also notified the names of 27 candidates for women reserved seats and eight candidates for non-Muslim seats in Sindh Assembly.

The commission further asked winning candidates who secured more than one seat in the general elections 2024 to vacate one seat before taking the oath. It has urged the candidates to submit applications for relinquishing seats to either the office of the chief election commissioner in Islamabad or the provincial election commissioner in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

The candidates will have to retain only one seat they want before they are sworn in as legislators. The ECP asks winning candidates with multiple seats to vacate one prior to oath taking. The candidates will have to retain only one seat they want before they are sworn in as legislators.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024