ECP ordered to explain why it put off notification of reserved PA lawmakers

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC)  on Monday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to file a response over refusing a notification for the appointment of lawmakers on reserved seats which fell vacant after the latter de-notified them on charges of floor-crossing.

On May 23, the commission removed the membership of 25 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers — including five elected on seats reserved for women and minorities — who had defected and voted for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Hamza Shehbaz in the election for the office of Punjab chief minister on April 16.

The high court had given the commission until June 2 to decide on the matter after the PTI accused the latter of dilly-dallying on the matter to benefit its rival party.

But on that day, the commission deferred the notification until the by-polls on the 20 general seats scheduled for July 17. Subsequently, the PTI moved the high court against the ruling.

Today, the court of Justice Shujaat Ali Khan directed the top election agency to file a reply within 10 days after a lawyer representing the government also sought time for submitting a response.

DE-SEATING OF DEFECTORS

The de-notification of the MPs came shortly after PTI approached the top electoral body to issue a notification of the latter’s decision to de-seat dissident legislators on charges of crossing the floor under Article 63-A of the Constitution.

Article 63-A provides that MPs who defect could lose their seats if they then vote against their party, but the government aims to find out whether that also applies before they cast their votes.

It reads that an MP can be disqualified on grounds of defection if they “vote or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to the election of the prime minister or chief minister; or a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or a money bill (budget) or a Constitution (amendment) bill”.

With these 25 lawmakers no longer members of the assembly, Shehbaz, who won for the chief minister with the help of the dissident legislators, has lost his majority in the Punjab Assembly, raising questions about the status of his government.

Shehbaz got 197 votes in the chief minister’s election but is now left with the support of 172 members in the house. A candidate requires the support of at least 186 lawmakers in the 371-member House to be elected as the chief minister.