ISLAMABAD: The hearing of the disqualification reference against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, has been postponed once again.
The Election Commission has postponed the hearing of the reference indefinitely due to his non-appearance. A five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the case.
However, Omar Ayub did not appear before the commission once again. During the hearing, his junior lawyer took the position that Omar Ayub’s lawyer is busy in the Peshawar High Court, so a new date should be fixed for the hearing. The Chief Election Commissioner remarked that “give him the next date”, after which the commission postponed the hearing indefinitely.
It may be recalled that National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had sent a reference to the Election Commission on May 30, 2025, for the disqualification of Opposition Leader Omar Ayub. The reference was filed by former Member of National Assembly Babar Nawaz, who was defeated by Omar Ayub from NA-18 (Haripur) constituency in the 2024 general elections by a huge margin of 82,000 votes.
The Election Commission had fixed the first hearing of the reference for June 4, and formal notices were also issued to both parties. Several PTI leaders have been disqualified after an anti-terrorist court verdict. The PTI has challenged the ATC verdict in various courts of the country.
PTI MNA from Chitral, Abdul Latif Chitrali, has also been disqualified, and he has challenged the decision in the Peshawar High Court. The court has stopped the election regarding the preparation of the election for this seat.
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