ECP orders PTI to hold intra-party elections within 20 days
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday ordered Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) to hold intra-party elections within 20 days if it wants to keep its election symbol of "Bat", reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Pronouncing its decision reserved on September 13, the ECP also directed the PTI to submit a report regarding intra-party elections in the Commission within seven days.
The ECP, however, said that PTI's election symbol of “Bat” will remain with the party. The commission told the PTI that it would lose the election symbol “Bat” if the party does not conduct elections within 20 days.
The ECP also declared PTI’s intra-party elections held in June 2022 as “controversial”.
PTI to challenge ECP’s order
PTI’s lawyer Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said he was “extremely upset” by today’s ECP verdict, adding the requirements of justice were not met.
Speaking to the media outside the ECP office in Islamabad today, he claimed the verdict had been delayed for a “special purpose”.
الیکشن کمیشن کے آج کے آرڈر سے بہت افسوس ہوا انصاف کے تقاضے پورے نہیں کئیے گئے پی ٹی آئی کے انٹرا پارٹی کے الیکشن آئین اور قانون کے مطابق ہوئے تھے: @BarristerGohar کی الیکشن کمیشن میں گفتگو #ووٹ_سے_لیں_گے_انتقام pic.twitter.com/6f4riJDfwa
— PTI (@PTIofficial) November 23, 2023
The lawyer said the ECP’s notice had not stated that the intra-party elections were not according to the PTI’s constitution. Instead, Gohar Khan asserted, the notice was about the polls’ documentation being incomplete.
Gohar Khan added the polls were held correctly and in an open manner, along with complete documentation. He said he would challenge the order before the relevant forums.
The lawyer expressed “satisfaction” that according to today’s verdict, the bat was “our (PTI’s) symbol, it still is and it will remain on the ballot paper”.
On September 13, the ECP had reserved the decision after the PTI lawyer submitted his reply following the issuance of a show-cause notice to the party. A four-member bench led by Nisar Durrani heard the case.
The PTI intra-party polls had been pending before the ECP since 2022.
The ECP requires political parties to conduct intra-party elections before every five years, and the parties can hold the polls in three or four years as enshrined in their respective constitutions.
In August, PTI Chairman Imran Khan did not appear before the ECP despite having been served a final notice over the party's failure to hold intra-party elections.
The electoral watchdog had summoned the PTI chief, warning him that if he failed to appear before the commission, the ECP might – under Section 215 (5) of the Elections Act, 2017 – declare his party ineligible to obtain an election symbol for future polls.
Reporter Usman Khan