One of the most essential requirements for any political party is to hold intra-party elections. The Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) released data stating that almost all the political parties in the country have failed to hold these elections within their respective parties.
As the general election draws nearer, all these parties have an obligation to hold the intra-party elections. Parties such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F), and several other parties have not completed this legal requirement.
Under its own political manifesto, the ruling PPP is required to hold intra-party elections every two years but the last time it held its elections was back in 2006. Even the whistle clean PTI has been negligent of the law and it held its elections in 2002, whereas they are supposed to be conducted every four years.
PML-F along with several religious parties such as Muttahida Majilis-e-Amal(MMA) have also failed to abide by the election laws of the country.
According to the Political Parties Act 2002, every political party must fulfill two major requirements. These are firstly the intra-party elections and secondly a charted accountant certified statement of accounts of a party submitted to the ECP sixty days before the end of each fiscal year.
Although all parties claim they hold intra-party elections, it is extremely difficult to determine their authenticity.
