Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) today de-listed 284 political parties – including PML-Functional, MQM-Pakistan, Sunni Tehreek and JUI-Sami – for not complying with the new rules set for political parties under the Elections Act 2017. <br/><br/>The action was taken against political parties which failed to submit a list of at least two thousand members with their signatures or thumb impressions along with copies of their national identity cards and two lakh rupees as enlistment fee according to Section 202 (2) of the Elections Act 2017 within the stipulated time. <br/><br/>A notification issued by the ECP said the affected political parties may appeal the decision in the apex court within 30 days. The move means only 68 political parties remain listed with the ECP. <br/><br/>The Elections Act 2017, which first became a cause of controversy for paving way for Nawaz Sharif to re-take the office of PML-N president, was first passed by the National Assembly in October 2017.