PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) suspended Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) verdict which declared PTI’s intra-party elections ‘unlawful’ and stripped party of its iconic ‘bat’ electoral symbol. Court also issued notices to all respondents in case.

On December 2, ECP had nullified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s intra-party elections, for third time since last year, declaring PTI ineligible for obtaining its traditional electoral symbol of ‘bat’. PTI had challenged ECP verdict in Peshawar High Court. PTI’s intraparty elections, in which Barrister Gohar Khan was elected as chairman of party, were held on December 2.

Polls had drawn sharp criticism as estranged PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar announced that he would challenge entire process. He had alleged that PTI had carried out selection process aimed at throwing out party workers to give reins to few lawyers.

The AGG informed the court that the ECP has the authority to declare the intra-party polls invalid if complete documents are not provided to them. However, Justice Miankhel observed that the party had been a part of the 2018 general elections, making it a registered party.

“If a party is registered and has conducted elections and has provided a certificate then how can they say that this is not right," Justice Miankhel observed and added that the court expects the ECP to conduct fair and transparent elections.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 27 2023

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.