Daily Times

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make a decision on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) election symbol and recently-held intra-party polls by Friday.

In the intra-party elections held earlier in December on the directives issued by the electoral body, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was elected as the party’s new chairman. Gohar was nominated by Imran Khan, the founding chairman of PTI who is now incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. A two-member bench of PHC heard the case related to PTI’s intra-party elections and election symbol.

In the hearing, Justice Shakeel Ahmed questioned PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar, asking why they had not filed a case in the Islamabad High Court.

Barrister Gohar responded, stating that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is safer for them than Punjab, as their leaders are not arrested in the province. “The ground reality is that our leaders are apprehended there [in Islamabad],” he added.

Justice SM Atiq Shah remarked that, as the chairman of the party, such statements were not expected from him. Barrister Gohar asserted that the intra-party elections were held in Peshawar, and the federation allows them to file a petition here, adding that the ECP can make the decision on the case anywhere.

On Monday, the ECP had reserved its verdict on petitions challenging the intra-party polls of PTI. During the hearing, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar maintained that the tenure of a party’s chairman was five years and the duration of the panel is three years, hence, intra-party elections are unnecessary when the chairman is elected unopposed.

A member of the ECP said that the matter had not been left without definition as the law stated holding polls in accordance with the established regulations.

He argued that np party’s constitution provided a clear explanation of the procedures for conducting intra-party polls but the Elections Act did specify who qualifies as a member.

Zafar maintained that the ECP had given a verdict on February 22 that specified that any individual who was not a party member could not cast a vote in party elections.