The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is fighting in the Supreme Court (SC) to keep its ‘bat’ symbol. It disagrees with the Peshawar High Court’s decision to give back authority to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for taking away this symbol. The ECP took away the PTI emblem for the coming February 8 election because they did not hold internal party voting as required by laws and regulations.
The PHC told the ECP to stop its decision on December 26. It asked for PTI’s party poll certificate to come out and bring back the ‘bat’ symbol by January 9. But later, the PHC agreed to listen to ECP’s plea for review. They reversed their earlier order and told ECP to continue with the election process.
To respond, the PTI has gone to the supreme court. They say that the PHC’s recent decision is not fair. The party argues that the ECP went beyond its authority by attacking PTI’s internal choices and doubting the legitimacy of in-party votes. PTI says it was treated badly, saying that ECP’s action is against the rules made in 2017 for elections. The rules say political groups should be free to manage their affairs independently.
Gohar Khan,a PTI leader, emphasized that their main target is getting back the ‘bat’ symbol. He said that while other parties have emergency plans, PTI is concentrating on getting a shared symbol. He called the current situation very important and against constitutional principles.
Latif Khosa, another PTI leader, accused the electoral watchdog of facilitating conspiracies against the party. He said that PTI, with or without the ‘bat’ symbol, still wants to compete using only one symbol. He also stressed how important it is for Imran Khan to help the country when he comes out of jail.
The PTI’s legal struggle continues as it seeks Supreme Court intervention to overturn the PHC’s decision and reinstate the ‘bat’ symbol ahead of the upcoming elections. The party argues against the ECP’s alleged overreach and emphasizes the importance of a level playing field in the electoral process.
