Election Commission Issues Show-Cause Notice to MQM-Pakistan Over Failure to Hold Intra-Party Elections; Warns Party Could Be Deprived of Electoral Symbol
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a show cause notice to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) for not meeting the legal requirements for conducting intra-party elections.
The election commission stated that MQM-Pakistan had not held its intra-party elections in the prescribed and extended time frame of October 15, 2026. Now the party is given a 14 day period to provide a formal reply to the show-cause notice.
ECP highlighted the electoral requirements and timelines under the Election Act 2017, which mandates regular election of the party officials and the parties need to submit the election certificate within seven days after the intra-party polling.ECP pointed out that the election of the officials of the political parties under the Election Act 2017 is a compulsory legal obligation and parties must submit the election certificate within seven days after holding the intraparty polling.To warn people of electoral symbol loss:
Failure to conduct intra-party elections may make MQM-P ineligible to secure an election symbol and their next general and local polling symbol may be formally withdrawn from the party, the commission warned.
Further Legal Action: If the satisfactory reply is not received within the stipulated 14-day time frame, strict further legal action will be taken on the party in accordance with the law, the ECP stated.