Pakistan electoral commission dismisses false claim that ex-PM's party was 'delisted'

"The election commission removed Tehreek-e-Insaaf from the current list of political parties," says a July 10, 2023 post on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X".

"The election commission is in such a hurry that it removed PTI from the list of parties contesting the next election even before PTI was banned," adds the post, which was shared over 9,700 times.

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Screenshot of the false post taken August 15, 2023

Pakistan has been in political turmoil since Khan was booted from power in April 2022, culminating in his jail sentence handed down in August for graft following a months-long crackdown on his party.

The former international cricket star has been disqualified from elections for five years but is appealing his sentence and conviction (archived link).

The party also said Khan's recent disqualification in a statement on August 8 was a "discriminatory decision" (archived link).

Pakistan dissolved its parliament on August 10, with elections due in 90 days according to the country's constitution -- although the outgoing government said it could be delayed.

The posts surfaced amid an ongoing dispute between the ECP and the PTI over the commission's ruling in 2022 that the party had received funds from "prohibited sources". The ECP has repeatedly warned the funds will be confiscated unless the PTI submits an explanation (archived link).

Posts making similar claims about the ECP delisting the PTI were also shared elsewhere on X here and on Facebook.

However, a spokesperson for the ECP told AFP that the claims are false, as the party remains on its list of registered political parties.

"There is no such thing. We did not delist the PTI," ECP spokesperson Haroon Khan Shinwari told AFP on August 10, 2023. "Our website clearly shows PTI there."

Below is a screenshot of the list of registered political parties on the ECP website as of August 15 with the entry for the PTI highlighted (archived links here and here):

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Screenshot of the ECP website showing registered political parties, taken August 15, 2023