Election Commission of Pakistan Faces Challenge

The Peshawar High Court has issued a written order in response to a petition filed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's decision to declare Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers as independent members of the provincial assembly. The court has sought a response from the Attorney General's Office and ordered that the petition be heard alongside other related petitions.

The Chief Minister has argued that PTI remains a functioning political party and still holds a majority in the K-P Assembly, and that the ECP's exclusion of PTI from the legal definition of a political party is unlawful. The petition also calls for multiple ECP orders to be declared unlawful, citing deliberate exclusion of PTI in the distribution of reserved seats and allocation to rival parties.

In a related development, the Election Commission of Pakistan has released the final list of candidates for the by-election for a seat for women in the Senate from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Nine candidates are contesting the election, including PTI-backed independent candidates and nominees from opposition parties. The by-election is scheduled to be held on July 31 on the seat vacated by Dr Sania Nishtar of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The developments come as Imran Khan, the chairman of PTI, has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the rejection of his bail in eight cases related to May 9 violence. The petition claims the prosecution has no convincing evidence connecting Khan to the violence and that he was in NAB custody at the time of the alleged offense, making his involvement impossible.