The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected on Monday a review petition seeking provincial assembly polls in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to be held at the same time as the 2018 General Election, scheduled for July 25.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Raza Khan while heading a five-member bench of the commission announced the verdict on the petition seeking review of the electoral body’s earlier decision on the matter. In his arguments, Barrister Farogh Naseem, representing three petitioners in the case, argued that two more months were required to carry out delimitation in erstwhile FATA to hold elections on provincial assembly seats there. “If the elections are delayed by two months it would not make any difference,” he said, arguing that the polls should be held in erstwhile FATA on the same date as in the rest of the country. The review petition was filed by the Muttahida Qabail Party, members of which have been holding demonstrations in the federal capital since the past few weeks demanding that the polls be held in FATA at the same time as the rest of Pakistan.
Published in Daily Times, July 3rd 2018.
