ECP denies removing PTI chairman as party head

The claim: Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has decided to remove Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman from his post.

Fact: ECP has not reached such decision.

The Story:

Various Pakistani media outlets carried the news, on Monday afternoon, that the ECP has decided to remove the PTI chairman from his party position following his sentence in the Toshakhana case.

The news reports claimed that a decision was taken during an ECP meeting held earlier on Monday August 7, and that a notification in this regard would be issued later in the day.

The reports were carried by leading news media outlets which include but are not limited to ARY, SAMAA, Aaj, GNN, Dunya News and Express Urdu, examples of which can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Meanwhile, the ECP has issued a rebuttal following the news on social media platform ‘X’, previously known as Twitter. The commission stated that no such decision has been taken or is under consideration.

الیکشن کمیشن آف پاکستان
7 اگست 2023
اسلام آباد
آج میڈیا پر پی ٹی آئ کے چئیرمین کو پارٹی عہدے سے ہٹانے کی چلنے والی تمام خبروں کی الیکشن کمیشن سختی سے تردید کرتا ھے۔۔ الیکشن کمیشن میں آج اس موضوع پر نہ تو کوئی اجلاس ہوا ہے اور نہ ہی یہ موضوع زیر غور رہا ھے۔#ECP

— Spokesperson ECP (@SpokespersonECP) August 7, 2023

Virality:

Social media users were quick to share the news. Examples of the spread can be found here, here,  here, here, here, here, here, and here,

Other examples of the spread can be seen here, here, here, as well as here.

Verdict: 

In light of an official denial by the ECP, it is safe to say that the news attributed to the election watchdog is false for now.

Read more: FACT CHECK: 72 per cent of women do not smoke cigarettes in Pakistan