Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed the by-elections to be held in 37 constituencies of the National Assembly.
The ECP issued four notifications on Sunday according to which by-elections to 24 National Assembly seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in Sindh, three in Islamabad and one in Balochistan have been postponed.
According to the ECP, the election process has been suspended this month on the basis of various petitions by the Peshawar High Court, Islamabad High Court, Sindh High Court and Balochistan High Court.
The by-elections were to be held on March 16 and 19.
These constituencies include NA 241 Korangi Karachi 3, NA 242 Karachi East 1, NA 243 Karachi East II, NA 244 Karachi East II, NA 247 Karachi South II, NA 250 Karachi West III, NA 250 Karachi West. III are included. -254 Karachi West-V, NA-254 Karachi Central-II and NA-256 Karachi Central-IV.
Following the order of the Balochistan High Court (BHC), the ECP postponed the by-election of Constituency NA 265 Quetta II till the next court.
Following the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the ECP postponed the by-elections to the three constituencies of the National Assembly till the further order of the court. The constituencies on which the by-election has been postponed include NA 52 Islamabad 1, NA 53 Islamabad II and NA 54 Islamabad III.
It may be noted that the Commission had issued the schedule for the by-elections for 33 and PA 31 seats of the National Assembly, which fell vacant after the resignations of the PTI MLAs and they were approved by the Speaker National Assembly, who After that, the ECP de-notified these members. .
The ECP is also meeting today (Monday) on the petition of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, filed by senior party member Babar Awan for the imposition of Section 144 to prevent the holding of election rallies in Lahore. had gone
On the same issue, another petition has also been filed on behalf of PTI’s former provincial minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has convened an important meeting of the commission tomorrow (Monday) at 10:30 on the requests of PTI’s Dr. Babar Awan and Dr. Yasmin Rashid regarding the implementation and ban of Article 144 on behalf of the Punjab government. Is. on election rallies,” said a brief statement issued by the ECP here.
On the instructions of the former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman, Babar Awan filed an application in the ECP. The petition, a copy of which is available with JEE News, has asked the commission to set aside the implementation of Section 144.
The caretaker Punjab government is violating the Supreme Court judgment by imposing Article 144, it says that the interim government/Prime Minister/Cabinet still wants to repeat the same events and this high-profile ‘lego constitutional crisis’ and political crisis. can cause Instability
It said “that the Interim Punjab Government, in flagrant violation of the ECP’s Code of Conduct and relevant orders, directed DR Lahore to impose Section 144 to stop the PTI rally in Lahore.” Is.”
It was claimed that the interim Punjab government was trying to stop the rally by justifying the PSL match while the routes of the PTI rally and the PSL match were different.
The petition also pointed out that the PTI rally will end at 5:30 pm while the PSL match will start at 7 pm, adding that Section 144 has not been imposed in any city during the PSL. went
After filing the application in the Commission Secretariat, Babar while talking to the media said that the implementation of Section 144 in Lahore is a direct insult to both the courts.
He explained that this is the same rally that was supposed to be held earlier but it was stopped, adding that the Lahore High Court has lifted the ban.
He said that the ECP should fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.
