ECP issues victory notification for Imran Khan on 7 NA seats

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued victory notification for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on seven seats of the National Assembly that he had won in the by-elections.

ECP announced its verdict reserved on December 26 on a petition regarding Imran’s failure to submit details of expenditures incurred on his election campaigns for by-polls.

The PTI chief had not submitted the election expenditure details within the stipulated time for the seven seats including NA-22, NA-24, NA-31, NA-45, NA -108, NA-118 and NA-239.

As per the regulations, candidates are required to provide their election expense details to the electoral oversight body within three days of the election date.

Despite the initial delay in submitting the expenditure details, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has approved the expenses submitted by Imran Khan and has issued a victory notification for him on the seven seats he won in the by-elections.

Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PMLN) had approached the commission, urging it not to notify PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s victory from any of the seven NA seats he had won in the by-elections.

In the petition, PMLN legislator Ali Gohar Baloch pleaded that the PTI chairman neither could be a member of the incumbent assembly nor could he contest the election, after his disqualification in the Toshakhana reference.

He referred to the order of ECP, passed on October 21 in the Toshakhana case.