Data available so far indicates 46% petitioners are PTI-independents
At least 377 election petitions challenging the outcomes of as many National and Provincial Assembly constituencies have been submitted for consideration of 23 election tribunals appointed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), according to the post-election observation by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).
According to Section 140 of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP appointed 17 tribunals – two in Punjab, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), five in Sindh, three in Balochistan and one in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT). However, six tribunals in Punjab were appointed by the Lahore Hight Court (LHC) and notified by its Chief Justice on June 12, 2024, following a single-member bench ruling that the ECP was legally bound to notify the tribunals in consultation with the Chief Justice. Moreover, the Islamabad High Court also stayed the notification of two tribunals, appointed by the ECP to be headed the retired judges as per a Presidential Ordinance promulgated on May 27, 2024 amending Elections Act, 2017 to provide for the appointment of retired judges as the heads of tribunals. The ECP has challenged the appointment of tribunals by LHC in the Supreme Court, which has referred the matter to a larger bench.
FAFEN is observing the post-election election dispute processes including the election tribunals. Although the ECP adopted transparency measures during delimitation and other electoral processes, the ECP and tribunals have not yet disclosed the number and the ancillary details of the petitions. FAFEN largely relied on information available through the cause lists on the websites of high courts to gather the number of the petitions submitted, and subsequently obtained their certified copies. FAFEN could gather information about a total of 377 petitions filed with the 23 election tribunals, but could only obtain certified copies of 171. As mentioned earlier, these figures are not exhaustive, as the number of petitions may increase.
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