Shehbaz Sharif, the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and former prime minister, has likened the Peshawar High Court’s decision to suspend the Election Commission of Pakistan’s ruling on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s iconic bat symbol to an “attack” on the commission’s authority.
On Tuesday, the PHC had suspended the ECP decision to nullify the PTI’s intra-party polls and revoke its popular ‘cricket bat’ symbol.
“As elections are scheduled to be held on 8th February, 2024 and last date for allotment of election symbols is 13th January, 2024, so keeping in view the urgency that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning thereby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice,” it added. The court in its order directed the commission to publish the PTI’s certificate on its website and restore the electoral symbol of the party.
He said that the relatives of the judge who announced the verdict are contesting election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The judge should have dissociated himself from the bench and someone unbiased should have been included in the bench, he added.
Addressing party workers during a ceremony at a hotel in Karachi, Shehbaz said that the ECP’s decision was based on facts and PHC’s decision was tantamount to challenging the commission’s authority.
He remarked that the scales of justice appeared to be swaying favourably towards a “ladla” (darling), alluding to the former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail in connection with the £190 million settlement and Toshakhana cases.
