ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on
Friday got back the power to de-list political parties failing to meet
the requirements of the newly-enacted Elections Act as the Islamabad
High Court (IHC) restored the notice issued by the ECP to all the 352
political parties.
The court had suspended the notice on November 30.
On
November 25, the ECP issued the final notice to the 352 political
parties asking them to submit the list of at least 2,000 of their
members and deposit the enlistment fee of Rs200,000 each by Dec 2 or be
ready to be de-listed. By then, none of the parties had met the
requirement of the law passed by parliament.
IHC restores final notice sent by ECP to 352 parties to submit list of at least 2,000 members and enlistment fee of Rs200,000 each
The first notice had been issued on Oct 20 and a reminder
sent to all the political parties for depositing the enlistment fee and
providing a list of at least 2,000 members along with their signatures
or thumb impressions and copies of their computerised national identity
cards.
An advertisement was also placed in leading newspapers to remind the political parties of their legal obligation.
The
ECP expressed the hope that the provision in the new law would help
check the mushroom growth of political parties. Many of the dormant
parties would also cease to exist.
The notice reminded
the parties that under the Elections Act 2017 they were required to
comply with the provisions of Sections 201, 202, 209 and 210 within 60
days of its enforcement.
“In case an enlisted political
party fails to comply with the provisions... the ECP shall cancel the
enlistment of the political party under Section 202(5) of the Act,” says
the notice.
Under the law, a political party enlisted
by the commission before the commencement of the Act shall be deemed to
have been enlisted provided it has filed the required documents. If not
it shall submit the documents within 60 days of the enforcement of the
law.
Under the Act, if an enlisted party fails to file
documents within the stipulated timeframe, the commission shall cancel
its enlistment after giving it a chance to explain the reasons.
Justice
Aamer Farooq of the IHC suspended the notice after a preliminary
hearing of the petition filed by little-known political parties having
no representation in the parliament, including Democratic Party of
Pakistan, Pakistan Democratic Front, Sada-i-Pakistan Party and Pakistan
Muslim League (Safdar).
The petitioners said they were
legally enlisted as political parties after having fulfilled all
procedural and codal formalities. Contending that the provisions of the
Elections Act 2017 were ultra vires and against the Constitution, they
requested the court to suspend the ECP notice.
A senior
ECP official, when contacted, wondered how the IHC could have suspended
the notice issued in line with an Act of the parliament and that too on
the petition of political parties that existed only on papers.
He
said the law provided that an appeal against the refusal of enlistment
or cancellation of the registration of a political party would be filed
with the Supreme Court.
