The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Friday evening stripped of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol — a sign that depicts its founder, Imran Khan’s former life of cricket.
Announcing its reserved verdict, a five-member ECP bench — headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja declared PTI’s intra-party elections unlawful.
The 11-page order was announced on the petition of Akbar S Babar, a former PTI member, who claimed that the PTI did not stage the elections in line with the rules.
This serves as a major blow to the former ruling party as it gears up for the February 8 elections, with its founder — PTI’s voter driving force — already behind bars for months — and his release does not seem soon.
“The PTI has not complied with our directions […] and failed to hold the intra-party election following the PTI prevailing Constitution, 2019, and Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017,” the order read.
The party also seems to be running out of time as the extended deadline for submitting the nomination papers expires on Sunday and the party only has one day (Saturday) to move courts against the ECP’s decision.
The PTI has complained repeatedly that it is being targeted and not being given a level-playing field, but today, just hours before the order, the ECP had assured the party it would be provided equal opportunities.
