CEC warns PkMAP of ‘unilateral’ decision in two cases

ISLAMABAD: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has warned that the electoral body would issue a “unilateral” decision in two of the three cases related to Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) — which is headed by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai — if the defence side fails to submit the related replies. He said this on Tuesday while heading a five-member full bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that heard three cases involving PkMAP; the non-conduct of intra-party elections, the party’s constitution, and its accounts. During the hearing, the defence counsel informed the bench that similar cases related to PkMAP were pending in the Balochistan High Court (BHC), and that the court had issued a stay order in the case regarding non-conduct of PkMAP intra-party elections. The ECP officials concerned from the Law Wing confirmed to the bench that the BHC issued a stay order in the PkMAP intra-party polls case, but, they contended, the remaining two cases related to the amended constitution and the accounts of PkMAP are pending in the said court without any stay order having been issued. The CEC directed the defence lawyer to submit replies to the ECP’s objections in the two cases in which stay orders were not issued by the BHC. If the defence side fails to submit the replies, the ECP would make a unilateral decision, he said. The bench accepted the defence counsel’s request to be granted two weeks to submit the required replies, and adjourned the cases till 15th September. During the previous hearing of these cases held on 30th July, the CEC said that the PkMAP did not presently have a chairman due to the non-conduct of intra-party elections — a statement which implied that the ECP refused to acknowledge Achakzai, the NA Opposition Leader, as the head of his political party. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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