Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan declared on Friday that the party would file a high court appeal against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to remove the party’s iconic election symbol, the “bat,” calling it a “conspiracy” against the former ruling party.
A five-member ECP bench led by Chief electoral Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja had earlier pronounced the PTI’s intra-party elections illegal and reclaimed the party’s electoral symbol after issuing its reserved ruling.
Barrister Gohar stated in an interview with Geo News that his party has reservations about the ECP from the start. He said that the electoral watchdog was only concerned with his party’s issues and was not keeping an eye on any other parties.
“In accordance with the party legislation and constitution, we conducted the intra-party elections. We had requested information from the ECP regarding the specific law or constitutional provision that had been broken during the PTI intra-party polls.
The PTI leader stated that the ECP said nothing about it in its reply filed with the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and questioned which portion of the Elections Act 2017 his party had broken.
Gohar said that the ECP had carried out the intra-party polls in compliance with the law and the constitution, calling their decision “political and based on personalities.”
“The ECP has already made the decision to reclaim the ‘bat’ symbol from PTI.”
He went on to say that the electoral body had never kept an eye on intra-party elections held by other parties like it did during the PTIs.
“A conspiracy exists.” You are forcing all of a major political party’s candidates to run as independents in the general elections and taking away the party’s electoral emblem.
In the National Assembly, there are now seventy reserved seats. There are 227 reserved seats in Pakistan overall. Parties with election symbols [according to their parties’ strength in the assemblies] split the seats.
He said that during the elections for the positions of president, prime minister, chief minister, and Senate chairman, the legislators elected to reserved seats are vital.
“The conspiracy was hatched to confuse PTI’s supporters and candidates during the upcoming general elections.”
“Did any members of the ECP ask any question which was not addressed by the former ruling party?” the PTI leader responded to another inquiry.
Gohar stated that the Supreme Court has given an order regarding all political parties in relation to the foreign funding matter, accusing the ECP of being prejudiced against PTI. He said that although recovery actions were initiated against the PTI, the other political parties were ignored by the government. “Everything speaks for itself.”
In response to an additional query, the PTI leader stated that they also have an election “Plan B.” He categorically denied that his party will boycott the election.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Taimur Khan Jhagra stated on social media that the action is intended to prevent the party from participating in the election by making party candidates run independently by removing the party’s electoral emblem.
Jhagra declared that the party would return with its electoral emblem and called for a “course correction”.
He posted on his X account, “It still won’t work […] the bat will still be back.”
The plan is obvious.
First, stop PTI candidates from becoming contestants. Hence the violence in Punjab now.
Second, make them stand as independents. So you can confuse the voters and reduce their vote.
Third, if they win as independents, then horse-trade them, since there are… https://t.co/40T5Tbtd8g
— Taimur Khan Jhagra (@Jhagra) December 22, 2023
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