• Barrister Gohar ٓAli Khan says PTI is a “very strong party”.
• “We will issue list of all candidates with election symbols.”
• Gohar says SC’s order issued today was “controversial”.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Saturday night announced its candidates would contest elections independently after plans the former ruling party had failed to materialise.

“All PTI candidates will contest independently. We will issue a list of all our candidates with their election symbols,” PTI’s now-former chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told journalists at the Supreme Court in Islamabad.

The electoral symbol is crucial to any political party as voters are aware of which candidate to vote for on polling day; however, since the PTI does not have a unified symbol now, it might lose votes due to confusion among the people.

The PTI’s resolve to still contest polls came after the Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to strip of PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol. Moreover, the party’s plan to issue tickets on the Tehreek-e-Insaf Nazriati’s (PTI-N) symbol also backfired as the latter’s chairman “backed out” of a deal. 

Even if the PTI-N had agreed to issue tickets, the ECP, following PTI’s move, took notice of “deceiving attempts” by some candidates through their applications.

It clarified that the electoral symbol of another political party would not be allotted to candidates whose affidavits contradict their original party affiliation.

In his presser, Gohar noted that the top court’s order issued today was “controversial” and it had “deeply disappointed” him. He added that his party would challenge the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Gohar, who was elected the party’s chairman, but since the intra-party polls are invalid, he’s been stripped of his title as well, said that the majority of Pakistan’s voters support the PTI.

“Whether we have the bat or not, the people will still vote for us […] we are a very strong party,” Gohar added, but noted that it was the court’s duty to ensure that every person’s basic rights are guaranteed.

For his part, PTI leader Barrister Ali Zafar said the party was anticipating the decision, therefore, their preparations were complete. “We will compete the February 8 with all-out force,” he added.