Three respondents tell ECP they didn’t apply for ‘TTAP registration’

ISLAMABAD: In a move that has raised eyebrows, three applicants who allegedly applied for the registration of a new political group Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP), the namesake of the opposition alliance comprising of six political parties that are critical of security establishment’s policies, denied having applied for this registration with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

In this context, Ali Sher Yousafzai, Fazal Aman Khan and Muhammad Farooq, the heads of Pakistan Aman Tehreek, Pakistan Falahi Tehreek and Pakistan Welfare Party, the three parties that are enlisted with the ECP, but lack any significant political presence on the ground, appeared before an ECP bench on Tuesday.

The bench had fixed this case for hearing reportedly after receiving an application for TTAP registration, and allocation of a joint electoral symbol.

During the case hearing, the respondents denied before the bench having applied for the TTAP registration, saying they learnt about the matter through an ECP notice regarding hearing of this case. To this, the bench members expressed surprise.

Babar Hassan Bharwana, one of the ECP bench members, said the Commission received the application for registration of TTAP on the letterhead of Pakistan Aman Party. A forensic analysis of the application should be carried out to determine the authenticity of the TTAP registration application.

From the TTAP side, senior TTAP leader and former lawmaker Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar appeared before the bench, informing that TTAP is an alliance of mainstream opposition parties, headed by Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the newly nominated Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

The bench directed the three alleged applicants to withdraw the TTAP registration application, which they did.

The respondents requested the bench to dispose of the matter. Khokhar also demanded that the TTAP registration application be rejected; however, the bench members said they would issue an “appropriate” order in this regard.

“This application has created suspicions,” Khokhar told the media after the ECP hearing.

“TTAP is already existent. We were surprised; who gave the application for the registration of a new TTAP in the ECP,” he asked.

“It seems that there is no constitution and law in this country,” Khokhar said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025