ECP orders PTI to hold intra-party polls within 20 days to retain bat symbol

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered on Thursday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to hold intra-party elections within 20 days it if wants to retain the bat as its poll symbol.

The ECP also wants the party to submit a report regarding the polls to the commission within seven days of them being held.

Speaking to the media outside the ECP office, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, representing the PTI, claimed the verdict had been delayed for a “special purpose”.

He said he was “extremely upset” by today’s verdict, adding that the requirements of justice were not met.

The counsel further said that the polls were held correctly and in an open manner, along with complete documentation.

“The ECP’s notice had not stated that the intra-party elections were not according to the PTI’s constitution. Instead the notice was about the polls’ documentation being incomplete,” Khan added.

He further said that as per the ECP’s order, “the bat was our symbol, it still is and it will remain on the ballot paper”.

Background

On October 19, PTI moved the poll entity for the issuance of written order in the case related to its intra-party elections.

The related petition, moved in the ECP by PTI counsels Barrister Ali Zafar and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, stated that PTI’s intra-party elections were held on June 9, 2022, in pursuance of the party’s constitution.

For this reason, the petition read, the ECP neither questioned, nor alleged any illegality in the holding of the intra-party elections of the PTI. The notices which had been issued to PTI only related to alleged deficiencies in the documentation which had been properly addressed, according to the petition.

The petition stated that the ECP, in the final hearing of the case, held on August 30, this year, accepted PTI’s submissions and verbally announced its decision that the PTI intra-party elections were duly held on June 9, 2022, and, therefore, the matter stood resolved.