World News | Depriving Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of Its Symbol Would Open Doors for Changing of Loyalties in New Parliament: Party Chief
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The chief Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said on Friday that depriving his party of its symbol of cricket bat would open doors for changing of loyalties in the new parliament.
Islamabad, Dec 29 (PTI) The chief Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said on Friday that depriving his party of its symbol of cricket bat would open doors for changing of loyalties in the new parliament.
Barrister Gohar Khan addressing a press conference stated that conspiracies were being hatched to snatch the bat from the party after the highest number of nomination papers had been filed by PTI candidates.
“If you take away our electoral symbol, will all of them contest as independent candidates? If this happens, who will be responsible for horse trading after the polls?” he asked.
Horse-trading is commonly used in Pakistan for shifting of political loyalties in the parliament while in search of greener pastures.
He said that the ‘bat' was not just the electoral symbol of his party but also a symbol of the expectations of the people.
“The Supreme Court has settled that snatching the electoral symbol is equivalent to dissolving a political party and this right only lies with the apex court in Article 17 (of the Constitution),” he said.
His remarks came after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz criticised the Peshawar High Court (PHC) for restoring the bat as a symbol of PTI days after the Election Commission of Pakistan in a ruling deprived it of the bat as a symbol following the annulment of its intra-party elections.
Gohar Khan termed the upcoming elections as the most crucial for the country. He also predicted that his opponents would be badly defeated in the polls on February 8.
“They will all lose their seats if free, fair and transparent elections are conducted,” he said and added that the rivals were trying to take the ‘bat' away from the PTI.
His presser comes hours after the Islamabad High Court granted PTI leaders and lawyers permission to hold election meetings with Imran Khan in the Adiala Jail where he has been incarcerated.
Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb issued an order on a petition filed by Khan seeking permission to hold meetings with party members.
Khan is expected to make key decisions in the meeting with senior party leaders and also give the final word on the party tickets to various candidates.
On December 26, the Peshawar High Court suspended an order of the election commission to deprive former prime minister Khan's party of its electoral symbol of a cricket 'bat'.
Khan is currently incarcerated in corruption cases, including in the Toshakhana case. He was granted bail in the cypher case after the Supreme Court's intervention last week.
The ECP had issued a verdict following a first-of-its-kind microscopic examination of the inner workings of a political party and declared the party ineligible to obtain an election symbol to contest the upcoming general elections.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)