Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, two prominent members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), expressed their disappointment in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday and criticized it for being “biased.”
Both leaders condemned the ECP’s decision to issue arrest warrants with the possibility of bail for Imran Khan, the PTI’s leader, and other senior party figures Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry for their failure to appear before the commission in contempt proceedings.
Imran, Umar, and Fawad were the targets of the ECP’s contempt proceedings because they frequently made statements critical of the electoral organization and its top election commissioner.
The ECP’s decision to issue a bailable warrant, according to Fawad, “is an insult to the high court’s ruling,” he wrote in a tweet.
He asserted that the case, which had been scheduled for January 17 but was brought up today in violation of the regulations, had been determined.
The ECP members, according to Fawad, had made “yet another biased ruling,” and the PTI leaders would “pursue a contempt of court case against this decision in the high court,” he added.
الیکشن کمیشن کا قابل ضمانت وارنٹ جاری کرنے کا فیصلہ ہائیکورٹ کے فیصلے کی توہین ہے، کیس کی تاریخ 17 جنوری گھی جس کو رولز کے خلاف آج مقرر کرکے فیصلہ دیا گیا یہ الیکشن کمیشن کے ان بونے ممبران کا ایک اور جانبدار فیصلہ ہے، اس فیصلے کے خلاف ہائیکورٹ میں توھین عدالت کا مقدمہ کریں گے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) January 10, 2023
Asad Umar used the occasion to urge the electoral watchdog to pay attention to its main duties instead.
He said, “They are themselves in contempt of court for not having performed Islamabad [local body] polls,” saying that “they are engaged in these chores instead of holding elections.”
الیکشن کمیشن نے وارنٹ گرفتاری جاری کر دیئے عمران خان صاحب، میرے اور فواد چوہدری کے. اپنا الیکشن کروانے کا کام کرنے کے بجائے ان کاموں میں لگے ہوئے ہیں. خود یہ توہینِ عدالت کے مرتکب ہیں اسلام آباد الیکشن نہ کروا کر
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) January 10, 2023