Pakistan’s ruling party, PTI, has been declared ineligible to obtain an election symbol for the upcoming general elections after the electoral watchdog voided its internal elections. The verdict came following a first-of-its-kind examination of the party’s inner workings and declared it ineligible to contest the elections.
The ECP had ordered the party to hold intra-party elections in accordance with the PTI prevailing Constitution, 2019 and Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017. The party called the decision part of the “famous London Plan” and a “disgusting and shameful attempt to stop PTI from participating in the election.”
PTI lawyer and central information secretary Mohammad Muazzam Butt said the party would file a writ petition on December 26. He claimed that the ECP’s verdict was a “legally flawed” decision and that petitions against the PTI’s internal elections were filed in the ECP based on malicious intent and orders of some people.
Experts have criticised both the poll watchdog and the former ruling party for their contradictory behavior.
Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) head Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said PTI should have been more careful about its intra-party polls and that the election commission had been soft over many other things.
He also noted that PTI’s elections were due in 2021 but were held in June 2022 due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Pildat chief Ahmed Bilal Mehboob also found fault with the ECP’s working, stating that the watchdog has not been treating all parties equally. He pointed out that Senator Bugti, a BAP member of the upper house, should not have been allowed to join another party just as the elections are approaching.