Lahore, Jan 13 (PTI) Pakistan’s top poll body on Saturday ordered refused to accept applications from candidates of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party seeking to fight the February 8 general elections on another party’s symbol.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is anticipating that the Supreme Court might suspend the Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision that has allowed the cricket 'bat' election symbol to its candidates and hence asked them to apply for the ‘Batsman’ symbol of PTI-Nazriati (PTI-N) as plan B.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordered the returning officers to reject those applications even as the Supreme Court held a day-long hearing on the appeal of the ECP on Saturday seeking suspension of the PHC decision.
The SC is yet to announce its decision but seeing the 'mood' of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa, who is hearing the case, the PTI went in for Plan B to stay in the contest for the February 8 polls.
“If the bat is denied, the PTI could inculcate easily in the voters’ minds to stamp on the batsman,” the party said.
“The PTI has issued PTI-Nariati tickets to all its national and provincial assemblies’ candidates. PTI instructed that all candidates should submit tickets to their respective Returning Officers (ROs) and District Returning Officers (DROs) immediately,” the PTI said.
It is, however, not clear the conditions under which PTI-Nazriati has agreed to issue its tickets to PTI’s candidates but interestingly its (PTI) chief Akhtar Iqbal Dar issued a statement in the evening terming the PTI and its chief “corrupt.”
Meanwhile, the ECP refused to extend the deadline for the allotment of the election symbol for political parties. Saturday was the last day for the allotment of the electoral symbol.
In compliance with the ECP's order, the returning officers have refused to receive applications of the PTI candidates seeking election symbol on PTI-N.
The PTI said under the 'London Plan', the military establishment wanted to crush and oust the PTI from polls and bring in the PML-N of the Sharif brothers into power.
The election commission had on December 22 barred the PTI from keeping its ‘bat’ symbol for the upcoming February 8 election, citing irregularities in their internal polls that did not comply with the party's own constitution and election laws.
Following the ECP's decision to revoke their symbol, the PTI challenged it in the PHC where a single-member judge granting temporary relief reinstated the bat symbol and referred the case to a larger bench for a hearing on January 9.
On December 30, the polling body challenged the PHC’s jurisdiction over the matter.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, the PHC reversed its earlier decision and upheld the ECP’s order.
The PTI, however, after taking its fight to the Supreme Court, later withdrew its appeal and hoped for a favourable outcome from the PHC.
The PHC on Wednesday declared the commission’s order “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”.
The commission, dissatisfied with the PHC order, challenged the decision in the apex court and sought its revocation.