The PTI’s dilemma

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has recently declared the PTI’s party election unlawful while stripping the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its iconic election symbol, the bat, that depicts its founder’s cricket legacy, longheld achievements, and worldwide fame.

A five-member ECP bench comprising of the Chief Election Commissioner and his four aides announced a reserved verdict saying that the PTI has not complied with the ECP’s directions and failed to hold the intra-party election by the PTI prevailing Constitution, 2019, and Election Act, 2017, and Election Rules, 2017. Historically, the recent verdict has served as a major blow to the party which currently gearing up for the February 8 polls and eyeing victory in two federating units along with playing the opposition role in the centre.

Historically, the PTI was under the sonars of the Election Commission of Pakistan due to multiple reasons ranging from misdeclaration of the PTI’s Chairman, foreign funding cases, Toshkhana cases, intra-party elections and many more together with intimidation and harassment of ECP’s high-ups by the PTI senior leaders when the party was in power from mid-2018 to April 2021. Previously, the PTI leadership has been accusing the ECP of prejudice and partiality along with levelling allegations of not providing a level playing field in the ongoing election campaign, that charges might be real or a pre-emptive narrative to avert/manage the situation which has emerged at this time.

The PTI leadership has rejected the ECP’s verdict and termed it a politically motivated decision aimed at barring the group from parliamentary politics at least during the next five-year term, because, the scores of reserved seats in the National and Provincial assemblies are allocated to different political groups in accordance with their presence in the relevant houses. Those reserved seats play a crucial role in the Party’s powerplay during the elections for the slots of president, prime minister, chief minister, and Senate chairman.

Historically, the PTI nose downed due to the unethical and unmeasured policies of its leadership, who plays foul and hopes for courtesy and relaxation from others, all that happened in all cases from Toshkhana to intra-party elections. On these pages, the Frontier Post categorically highlighted the nomination and uncontested victory of Barrister Gohar Khan, which led the party to this day. There is a need for self-accountability, collective decision making and democracy within the party to make its prospective clear, narrative real and future glaring in the days to come.