The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday revoked a stay order on an Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) order declaring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s intra-party polls null and void, which had stripped it of its electoral symbol of a cricket bat.
Last month, a single-member bench of the PHC had issued the stay order on an appeal filed by the PTI, ordering the case to be fixed before a division bench of the court on Jan. 9 for a final decision on the matter. Subsequently, the ECP had filed a review petition at the PHC against its decision, seeking the vacation of the stay order until it had also had a chance to advance its arguments in favor of the nullification of the intra-party polls.
The ECP’s plea was taken up a single-member bench comprising Justice Ejaz Khan on Tuesday, with proceedings continuing today. Sikander Bashir Mohmand represented the ECP, while party Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and Advocate Anwar represented the PTI.
During today’s hearing, the PTI questioned how the ECP could approach the court against an earlier ruling, urging the judge to declare the electoral body’s petition incorrect. Anwar also noted that the PHC’s order, issued on Dec. 26, had directed the ECP to restore the PTI’s symbol and notify it on its website, which had was yet to be implemented. “Election Commission has not yet issued the [PTI] intra-party election certificate on the website,” he said.
“Did your party file any contempt case in this matter?” asked Justice Khan to which the PTI’s counsel replied in the negative and argued that sidelining the party was not good for the ECP or democracy. He said the PTI wants the ECP to conduct free and fair elections.
Taking the rostrum, the ECP’s counsel maintained the electoral body was not seeking to remove any political party from its enlisted parties, but stressed all parties must follow the law. He also said several parties were facing similar cases and it was incorrect to assume this was targeting a single party.
Arguing the PTI had not conducted intra-party polls as per its constitution, Mohmand urged the court to withdraw its stay order and declare the polls null and void. The court then reserved its verdict before announcing it a few hours later.