ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has said that Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) has no chairman currently due to the non-conduct of intraparty elections — a statement which implies that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) refuses to acknowledge Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who is the Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, as the head of his political party.
The CEC made these remarks on Thursday, heading a five-member full ECP bench during the hearing of three cases against PKMAP related to the non-conduct of intraparty elections, the amended constitution and the accounts of PKMAP.
Conspicuously, a cause list issued by the ECP earlier on Wednesday suggested that only one case against PKMAP was listed for hearing on Thursday that involved the amended constitution of PKMAP.
However, this cause list was revised shortly after being issued with the inclusion of two more cases related to the non-conduct of intraparty elections and accounts for the financial year 2024-25.
During the hearing of these cases, the ECP bench reviewed a PKMAP document which was signed by Achakzai as the political party’s Chairman.
The CEC remarked that PKMAP presently does not have a party head due to the reason that it did not hold the intraparty elections.
The bench indicated that a separate order would be issued regarding this matter.
The defence lawyer sought time to present arguments in the three cases. The bench adjourned the cases till 19th August.
On this month’s 20th, the ECP rejected the intraparty polls of Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which was notified as a proscribed organisation by the Interior Ministry on terrorism charges last year, declaring it ineligible to obtain an election symbol.
In April this year, the ECP gave Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan (MQM-P) six months’ time to hold intraparty elections, by 15th October this year, less than 10 days after rejecting the political party’s request to be granted two months to prepare its defence in the case.
Apart from that, pending with the electoral body, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intraparty polls case sees a prolonged delay of over four years. The electoral body has rejected the legality of these elections thrice, since June 2022, allegedly out of politically motivated reasons.
Intraparty elections of the political parties are generally regarded as being of symbolic significance, and the ECP mostly accepts the related certificates submitted to it by the political parties regarding completion of their respective intraparty polls. Still, holding intraparty elections is a mandatory requirement for every political party under the relevant election laws.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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