The PTI said on Monday it would challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to declare its intra-party polls as unconstitutional and revoke the iconic ‘bat’ symbol in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) tomorrow (Tuesday).
The development comes after the electoral watchdog last week voided, for the second time in less than a month, PTI’s internal elections, in which Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was easily elected as the party’s new chairman. The verdict came following a first-of-its-kind microscopic examination of the inner workings of a political party and declared the party ineligible to obtain an election symbol to contest the upcoming general elections.
“It is held that PTI has not complied with our directions rendered therein by order dated November 23, 2023, and failed to hold intra-party elections in accordance with PTI’s prevailing Constitution, 2019; Election Act, 2017; and Election Rules, 2017,” the ECP said in its 11-page order.
The party had termed the decision part of the “famous London Plan” and a “disgusting and shameful attempt to stop PTI from [participating in the] election.”.
It had also claimed that the party would still win the general elections, maintaining that it would appeal the decision at every forum. It asserted that its candidates would indeed contest the polls with the ‘bat’ symbol, come what may.
Speaking to the media, PTI lawyer and central information secretary Mohammad Muazzam Butt said the party had decided to approach the high court and would file a writ petition on December 26.
He said the main party leadership would file the case, claiming that the ECP’s verdict was a “legally flawed” decision, adding that the commission had failed to serve justice in its order.
Butt further claimed that petitions against the PTI’s internal elections were filed in the ECP based on “malicious intent” and “on orders of some people.”.
“We are not being provided a level playing field, and attempts are being made to keep us away from polls,” the secretary added.
In an interview, PTI lawyer Naeem Haider Panjutha also said the party would approach the PHC instead of the Islamabad High Court (IHC). He said that the PTI had expected that the ECP would make such a decision.
“By snatching the ‘bat symbol, how can you say this will be a free and fair election? You are taking away the rights of the voters of such a big political party,” he said. He said that the law and the Constitution made it clear that the electoral symbol of a party could not be taken away.
He said that there were at least 15 cases where the IHC had done “injustice” to Imran. Panjutha said the party would approach the PHC on December 26 and expected that the party would be given justice.