ECP’s deadline approaches: Three political parties remain ‘headless’

Islamabad - The deadline to submit annual wealth statements to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) draws near, and three political parties, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), are left without any recognized leadership due to their ongoing disputes. Last month, the ECP set the requirement for political parties to submit these statements, which must be audited by a chartered accountant within 60 days following the end of the fiscal year, by the 29th of this month, as per Section 210 of the Elections Act 2017.

PKMAP is currently without a chairman as intra-party elections have not been conducted, a situation highlighted by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, who claimed that the ECP has not recognized Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the National Assembly's Leader of the Opposition, as the party's head. The ECP also declared TLP ineligible to obtain an election symbol, barring its chief Saad Rizvi and his brother Anas Rizvi from holding elections, as they are perceived to be hiding following the crackdown on TLP's long march in October last year.

Additionally, the ECP has rejected the legality of PTI's intra-party polls for the fourth consecutive year, dismissing Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the party's chairman. The submission of these wealth statements is seen as a mere formality, with the Political Wing of the ECP lacking the necessary legal framework to address tax-related discrepancies in the wealth statements.