ISLAMABAD: The PTI is staging countrywide protests today (Tuesday) outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) district offices against the chief election commissioner’s “biassed attitude” ahead of the hearing on the PTI’s foreign funding case (CEC).
There is a sense of urgency and concern in the PTI ranks after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) recently directed the electoral body to resolve the longest-ever — PTI foreign funding — case pending before it within 30 days.
Section 144 is in effect in the Red Zone, according to Islamabad police, and political parties have been urged not to protest there.
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Protests can be held at the F9 park’s press club, according to an Islamabad police spokesperson, because demonstrations in the Red Zone are prohibited.
The spokesperson went on to say that no one will be allowed to break the law, and that anti-riot forces will be deployed both inside and outside the red zone.
The CEC sends a letter to the administration in Islamabad.
The chief election commissioner has also written a letter to the Islamabad administration and police, demanding that proper security arrangements be made for the ECP office.
Meanwhile, sources told Geo News that the Islamabad police have decided to seal the roads leading to the Red Zone, with only Margalla Road remaining open for entry and all other entrances sealed with containers and barbed wires.
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According to sources, 750 personnel will be deployed for the ECP’s security; additionally, rangers will be in charge of security.
Furthermore, water canon staffers have already been notified, according to the source.
According to the ECP, no notice of the resignation of a PTI MNA has been received.
Meanwhile, the ECP stated that it had not yet received any notification of resignation from any member of the National Assembly (MNA), according to The News.
A day earlier, CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja presided over a meeting at the ECP Secretariat, which was attended by two members of the commission, the secretary, and other senior officers. Soon after the PTI government was deposed, the party submitted the resignations of 123 MNAs to the National Assembly speaker, who has yet to decide their fate.
The meeting discussed the letter written by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the ECP in which he stated that the party had resigned from all seats in the National Assembly and that there was no representation of it in the assembly. “A case against the dissidents has been sent to the ECP under Article 63A of the Constitution,” the letter continued.
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The ECP, on the other hand, claimed that under the law, it had not received any notification of a member’s resignation from the speaker. “Action will be taken in accordance with the law upon receipt of the case,” it added.
Furthermore, the ECP has issued notices to all MNAs and MPAs against whom the declaration under Article 63A has been received by the speakers of the National and Provincial Assemblies. MNAs have received notices for April 28.
