ECP declares PTI’s intra-party elections void, revokes ‘bat’ symbol

ISLAMABAD (APP) - The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday declared the intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as void and stripped it the ‘bat’ symbol for the upcoming elections.

A five-member bench comprising Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja and ECP members Nisar Ahmed Durrani, Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Babar Hassan Bharwana and Justice (r) Ikramullah Khan announced the 11-page order on the petition of Akbar S Babar, a former PTI member, alleging that the PTI election were not conducted in accordance with its regulations.

The ECP, in its order, observed: ”The PTI did not adhere to the commission’s directives outlined in the order dated November 23, 2023 and failed to conduct intra-party elections in accordance with the PTI’s prevailing constitution, 2019, and the Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017.

“Therefore, the certificate dated December 4, 2023, and Form-65 filed by the alleged chairman, are hereby regretted and rejected accordingly. The provisions of Section 215 of the Election Act, 2017 are hereby invoked, and the PTI is declared ineligible to obtain the election symbol for which they have applied.”

The ECP had reserved the verdict last week and announced it following the Peshawar High Court directive to decide the matter by Friday (Dec 22).