Despite orders from Islamabad High Court (IHC), staffers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) remained \u201cmissing\u201d from polling stations across the capital as residents came out of their houses to vote for their representatives, the PTI claimed on Saturday.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, after a whirlwind of court proceedings, the IHC had instructed the ECP to hold Islamabad local government elections today (Dec 31).<\/p>\n
The verdict, which was pronounced by IHC Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir on petitions filed by PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami, quashed the electoral body\u2019s notification regarding the postponement of the polls.<\/p>\n
In response to the development, an ECP official had told Dawn that it was \u201cpractically impossible\u201d to hold an electoral exercise, even within Islamabad alone, on such short notice. Separately, the federal government had decided to file an intra-court appeal against the verdict.<\/p>\n
On Saturday morning, Dawn.com learnt that the government and ECP have filed intra-court petitions against the verdict but their pleas have not yet been fixed for hearing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the PTI complained that voters had gathered outside polling stations in the city but the election staff was missing.<\/p>\n
Party Chairman Imran Khan, in a tweet, said that by not implementing the IHC orders, the ECP had proven that it was a \u201cB team of the imported government and its backers\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPDM, fearful of the people, is running away from all elections. The right to vote is a fundamental democratic norm and PTI stands committed to it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, in a video message earlier today, PTI General Secretary Asad Umar said his party\u2019s teams were present outside polling stations since morning but no one from the electoral body showed up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis imported government is scared of people [\u2026] they run away whenever elections are held [\u2026] they make excuses,\u201d he claimed, demanding why the ECP\u2019s preparations were not complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the election commission and throw them out,\u201d Umar added.<\/p>\n
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also urged the IHC to take action against the ECP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis government, along with its puppet election commission, is making a joke of the nation and the Constitution,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said the ECP should immediately resign after \u201cplaying politics with holding elections\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite orders from Islamabad High Court (IHC), staffers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) remained \u201cmissing\u201d from polling stations across the capital as residents came out of their houses to vote for their representatives, the PTI claimed on Saturday. A day earlier, after a whirlwind of court proceedings, the IHC had instructed the ECP […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-304635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n