ECP told to decide PTI internal polls by today

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court on Thursday ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to settle the issues of the PTI’s intra-party polls and its electoral symbol by Friday (today).

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmed, heard the petitions filed by the PTI.

The PTI also asked the PHC to direct the ECP to publish the results of its internal elections on the commission’s website – a step required by the party to contest the next general polls.

In the intra-party elections held earlier this month on the ECP’s order, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was elected the PTI’s new chairman.

Gohar was nominated by Imran Khan -- the PTI’s founding chairman, who was currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail.

However, PTI founding member Akbar S Babar, who later developed differences with its leadership, challenged the party's intra-party polls.

In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, he requested that the PTI should not be allowed to use the ‘cricket bat’ as its electoral symbol until it held transparent intra-party polls.

He also asked the commission to appoint an independent third-party monitor to conduct the PTI’s fresh intra-party polls.

Babar further contended that the PTI had not disclosed the rules and regulations of the intra-party polls; their schedule and procedure; and time for the submission of nomination papers.

On Monday, the ECP had reserved its verdict on petitions challenging the intra-party polls of PTI.

A day later on Tuesday, the commission also reserved its judgment over the allotment of the electoral symbol of the 'cricket bat' to the PTI.

During the hearing, Justice Ahmed asked the new PTI chairman why the party had not filed a case in the Islamabad High Court.

Gohar replied that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was safer for it than Punjab as its leaders were not arrested in the province.

“The ground reality is that our leaders are apprehended there [in Islamabad],” he added.

Justice Shah remarked that as the chairman of the party, such statements were not expected from him.

Gohar told the court that the PTI’s intra-party elections were held in Peshawar, and the federation allowed them to file a petition in the city.

He added that the ECP could make the decision on the case anywhere.

The new PTI chairman further said if the party was not allotted an election symbol by Friday – the deadline for filing nomination papers –   all its candidates would be considered independent.

Gohar also told the bench that those who had challenged the intra-party elections were no longer members of the PTI.

The ECP lawyer told the PHC that the results of PTI’s intra-party elections were “controversial” and the commission would publish them on its website when it was satisfied with them.

Justice Shah inquired who made the results controversial. He added that were the people who filed pleas against the PTI’s internal polls members of the party.

The ECP lawyer responded that the petitioners had not attached this information with their pleas.

Later, the PHC remarked that the ECP should decide the matter itself.

It added that the party could challenge the decision if it wanted to and reserved the verdict.

The court issued its written judgment later in the day.

“Keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and in larger interest of justice, rather than passing any order or observation qua publication of the certificate of the PTI on the website and its publication in the official gazette under the provision of Section 209(3) of the Elections Act, 2017, read with rule 158(2) of the Elections Act, 2017, respectively, we deem it appropriate to direct the ECP to decide the matter, so pending before it by Dec 22 instant positively, strictly in accordance with the law,” it read.

Following the hearing, Gohar, in a media interaction, hoped that the PTI, with a 70% approval rating in the country, would not be excluded from the elections.

He emphasised that if such an eventuality occurred, it would raise questions about the credibility of the polls.

“The responsibility for safeguarding rights lies with the judiciary,” he concluded.