Seeks legal recourse in PHC: KP CM chooses not to appear before ECP
ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday sought legal recourse in the Peshawar High Court (PHC), choosing not to appear before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in response to allegations of breaching the election code of conduct.
The ECP had issued a notice the previous day, directing Afridi to appear before it on 21 November following his warning to authorities of stricter action if any manipulation occurred in the upcoming by-election for NA-19 Haripur.
However, the chief minister did not appear before the ECP and instead challenged the notice in the PHC. His legal team attended the commission, arguing that the chief minister’s comments had been misinterpreted and that his intention was to call for a free and fair election, not to threaten officials.
During the hearing, Afridi’s counsel, Ali Bukhari, argued that the notices issued by the ECP were unjustified, as the chief minister had never addressed a rally in Haripur, the constituency at the heart of the dispute.
Bukhari stressed that CM Afridi had only spoken at events in neighbouring areas, including Chamba and Haveliyan, both near the Haripur constituency border.
The four-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, also noted that candidates from Haripur, including opposition candidate Shehrnaz Omar Ayub, were responsible for any breaches of the code within their constituency.
However, the commission maintained that CM Afridi’s comments could be viewed as an attempt to intimidate election staff, which would constitute a violation of election rules.
Bukhari further claimed that the rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had also breached the code, highlighting a newly inaugurated Rs3 billion hospital by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, in a neighbouring constituency. He questioned the fairness of the ECP’s selective enforcement of the rules.
The ECP; however, reiterated that public office holders are prohibited from participating in election campaigns and must avoid actions that could influence or intimidate voters or election officials.
The commission granted CM Afridi an exemption from attending the hearing due to official commitments. The hearing was adjourned indefinitely.
In a related development, the ECP has issued a notice to Rana Sanaullah, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs, for violating the election code.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025