LAHORE (HRNW) The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday alleged that conspirators wanted to snatch the party’s electoral symbol of “bat” and prevent it from participating in the Feb 8 general elections.
During a press conference, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan asserted that PTI’s electoral symbol symbolised the expectations of the Pakistani nation and was not merely the symbol of his political group.
On Dec 26, the Peshawar High Court, in a major relief for the PTI, suspended an order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that annulled PTI’s intra-party elections and revoked its electoral symbol “bat”.
The high court instructed the electoral watchdog to publish the certificate of PTI’s intra-party polls on its official website “keeping in view the urgency, that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning hearby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice”.
The PTI chief contended that according to the Supreme Court, snatching the electoral symbol [of a political group] was equivalent to dissolving the party itself and that this right only lied with the apex court under Article 17 of the constitution.
The Peshawar High Court’s verdict drew criticism from PTI’s opponents, including PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
In response to their criticism, Gohar said, “These political leaders have been trying to take [our electoral symbol] ‘bat’ away from us. They know there will be no gains for them on Feb 8 if free, fair and transparent elections are held. They will all lose their seats.”
The PTI chief accused Shehbaz Sharif and Fazlur Rehman of attacking the judiciary.
He also affirmed that he was a representative of the PTI founder who, according to him, would always remain their leader regardless of his whereabouts.
Gohar shared that PTI’s election candidates had filed the highest number of nomination papers for the upcoming general elections, and questioned if the electoral symbol was withdrawn, would these election candidates vie as independent candidates.
“And if such a situation arises,” he went on to question, “Who will be responsible for the horse-trading?”
Gohar emphasised that derailing the upcoming elections would cause a massive loss to the country.
Gohar alleged that conspirators wanted to prevent the PTI from participating in the electoral exercise, and asked an open-ended question, “Is it not better for the judiciary to look into this matter?”
PTI leader Latif Khosa questioned how it was possible for PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who faces lifetime disqualification, to file his nomination papers. He called this the worst type of rigging in the history of Pakistan.