The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday rejected a review petition calling for holding provincial assembly polls in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) at the same time as the General Election 2018.
A five-member bench of the Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan announced the decision on the petition seeking review of the electoral body’s previous verdict on the matter.
In his arguments, Barrister Farogh Naseem, representing three petitioners in the case, contended 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 added, arguing that the polls should be held in erstwhile FATA on the same date as in the rest of the country.
The bench then reserved its decision on the plea and announced the verdict shortly afterwards.
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.
Meanwhile, the ECP also ordered registration of First Information Report (FIR) against filers of bogus petitions, and directed the Director-General Law to register a complaint on behalf of the Commission.
