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Shujaat asked to fight re-election case in EC

* Saifullah says decision on case will leave positive mark on country’s political scene
* CEC adjourns hearing until 31st

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid dissident group on Saturday urged PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to appear before the Election Commission (EC) in a case against his re-election as the party’s chief for a third consecutive term.

The group leader, Salim Saifullah Khan, said, “We will not let the Chaudhrys run away from the case.” He was talking to reporters outside the EC office. Saifullah said Shujaat’s counsel had asked the commission to adjourn the hearing for three weeks.

Significant: To a question, he said the case was of “significant nature” and its decision would leave a positive mark on the country’s political scene.

Saifullah said, “In the last hearing, Chaudhry Shujaat had pleaded before the EC that the election body had no authority to hear the case, which, according to him, was “meddling into the internal affairs of the party. However, the court had rejected Shujaat’s plea.”

On Saturday, Shujaat’s lawyer, Wasim Sajjad, did not appear before the EC because of his ailment.

“Sajjad is an old colleague of mine, but the timing of his illness speaks for itself," he said.

Saifullah said that Chaudhry Shujaat’s co-counsel had informed the Election Commission that it was “a case of paramount significance”, adding it would put far-reaching impact on the country's political fabric.

“We would request the august court to conduct the hearing of the case on a daily basis due to the significance of the case,” he added.

To a question, Saifullah said the objective of filing the case was to bring in reforms in political parties for the revival of democratic norms within political parties, and this case would go a long way in achieving this objective.

When asked whether his party was in touch with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and were there any chances of an alliance between both political forces, Saifullah said there was an interaction with the opposition parties, including the PML-N. He said his party legislators in THE Punjab Assembly had already said that they would not allow anyone to destabilise the Punjab government.

Jamil Ahsan Gill, the dissident group’s counsel, said Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry had advised the superior judiciary in the National Judicial Policy not to adjourn any case for more than seven days. He said he had raised this point before the chief election commissioner. He said the case was of significant nature and its decision would leave a positive mark on the country's political prospect.

Adjourn: Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Hamid Ali Mirza adjourned the hearing until October 31.

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