The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday decided against letting the PTI retain its ‘bat’ electoral symbol for the February 8 general election.
According to the ECP, the PTI was unsuccessful in conducting intra-party elections.
The reserved verdict was announced a day after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the electoral watchdog to decide on PTI’s intra-party polls and electoral symbol by today in “accordance with the law”.
The development also came hours after the PTI met with the commission following the Supreme Court’s order for the ECP to address the party’s concerns regarding lack of a level playing field in the run up to the polls.
Setting a new precedence, the ECP had taken notice of the PTI’s intra-party in which Barrister Gohar Ali was easily elected as the party’s new chairman.
The polls were held on December 3, days after the ECP declared as null and void the intra-party polls held in June 2022, giving the PTI 20 days to hold fresh elections or be ready to become ineligible for the poll symbol.
However, the party was on the receiving end of sharp criticism over the polls as estranged PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar announced that he would challenge the entire process. He had alleged that the PTI had carried out a selection process aimed at throwing out party workers to give the reins to a few lawyers.
Subsequently, Akbar had approached the ECP against the intra-party elections, alleging it was “rigged and fraudulent”. Various other petitions were also submitted to the ECP along similar lines as Babar’s with the mutual demands of declaring the intra-party election without effect and orders for the exercise to be carried out anew.
On Tuesday, a five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, had reserved judgement on the matter linked to the allocation of the ‘bat’ as the PTI’s electoral symbol.
Moments after news of the ECP’s decision was aired, the PTI took to X to term the decision part of the “famous London Plan” and a “disgusting and shameful attempt to stop PTI from [participating in the] election.”
It claimed that the party would still win the general elections.
The party said it would appeal the decision at every forum, asserting that its candidates would indeed contest the polls with the ‘bat’ symbol.
Former ECP secretary Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad said after the decision, the party’s electoral candidates would have to contest the general elections as independent candidates.
He said the party had the option to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.
Dilshad also said that there was no provision in the country’s election laws which allowed for intra-party polls to be held repeatedly.
“Since the PTI’s intra-party elections were rejected a third time, its candidates would have to contest the polls independently,” he said.
