ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected Salman Akram Raja’s plea for declaring his affiliation with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The ECP released its reserved verdict on Raja’s plea, with DG Law Saima Janjua delivering the decision.
The commission had reserved its verdict against PTI candidate Raja’s plea, seeking to be declared a PTI candidate rather than an independent candidate on Feb 2.
Salman Akram Raja filed the plea to avoid being declared an independent candidate and instead be recognised as a PTI candidate on Form-33, which contains the names and details of contesting candidates.
Currently, Raja is not listed as a PTI candidate on Form-33. Consequently, he will now contest the election from NA-128 as an independent candidate, with electoral symbol ‘Racket’.
The ECP clarified that it did not grant the electoral symbol to the PTI, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court. The PTI failed to demonstrate in the Supreme Court that intra-party elections were fairly conducted. –Agencies
