F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday issued the notification of deseating of 25 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ‘dissident’ members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs).
Of these 25 MPAs, 20 had been elected on general seats, three on the seats reserved for women and two on the minority seats.
The names of deseated MPAs are: Sagheer Ahmad, Malik Ghulam Rasool Sangha, Saeed Akbar Khan, Muhammad Ajmal, Abdul Aleem Khan, Nazar Chauhan, Muhammad Ameen Zulqarnain, Malik Nauman Langaryal, Muhammad Salman Naeem, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Fida Hussain, Zuhra Batool, Muhammad Tahir, Ayesha Nawaz, Sajida Yousaf, Haroon Imran Gill, Uzma Kardar, Malik Asad Ali, Ijaz Masih, Muhammad Sibtain Raza, Muhsin Ata Khan Khosa, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Mehar Muhammad Aslam and Faisal Hayat.
Only three days ago, on May 20, 2022, the ECP had de-seated 25 members of the Punjab Assembly belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who had voted in favour of Hamza Shehbaz Sharif in the chief minister’s election, ignoring party’s directive not to do so.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had read out the 23-page decision by a three-member bench of the ECP, headed by the CEC himself, in the light of the Supreme Court (SC) verdict announced a few days ago in which the apex court, while interpreting article 63-A of the constitution, had ruled that the votes of a party’s ‘turncoats’ would not be counted.
According to the judgement, the ECP said that it had reached the conclusion that during the election of Punjab chief minister, the PTI dissident members cast their votes in favour of the candidate of the rival party. “The defection of the (PTI) lawmakers has been proved when they cast their votes in favour of the rival candidate. So the Election Commission has accepted the declaration against the dissident members. The commission cancels the Punjab Assembly membership of the dissidents and their seats are declared vacant,” the verdict stated.
