PHC asks ECP to announce verdict on PTI intra-party election by Dec 22

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to make a decision regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) intra-party elections and the allocation of election symbols by tomorrow, which falls on December 22.

A two-member bench, consisting of Justice Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmed, issued the verdict after reserving it earlier in the day.

The court, in a written order, emphasized that the ECP should resolve the dispute over PTI’s intra-party elections in accordance with the law, noting that the ECP had already conducted a detailed hearing on the matter and reserved its decision.

During the hearing, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Khan informed the court that the party refrained from approaching the Islamabad High Court (IHC) due to concerns about potential arrests of its leaders.

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He asserted that if the election symbol was not allocated by December 22, PTI candidates would be treated as independent. Gohar Khan emphasized that the election symbol ‘bat’ would not be granted if the election commission did not recognize the intra-party elections, accusing the ECP of employing delaying tactics.

He also contended that those challenging the intra-party polls were no longer part of PTI and presented a list of all registered PTI members in court.

In response, ECP counsel Mohsin Kamran assured that the commission would publish the results of the “controversial” intra-party elections on its website once it was satisfied with them.

Following the arguments, the PHC directed the ECP to reach a decision on the matter of PTI’s intra-party elections and election symbol allocation by December 22.

The PTI had urged the PHC to instruct the ECP to publish the results of its intra-party polls on the commission’s website, a crucial step for contesting general elections.

The intra-party elections took place on December 2, following directives from the electoral body, resulting in the election of Gohar Khan as the new party chief, nominated by the incarcerated Imran Khan, who is currently held at Adiala Jail.