PTI asks ECP to issue verbal order on election symbol. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to give its verbal order regarding the issuance of election symbols and reminded the electoral body of its constitutional obligation to hold free and fair elections in the nation.
The party’s attorney, Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, submitted a request for the issuance of a thorough written order to the Election Commission on Wednesday in the interest of justice and fairness.
In light of its announcement regarding the issuance of election symbols, the party has urged the Election Commission to make a thorough decision right away.
According to Senator Zafar, the Election Commission sent a notice to the PTI for refusing to issue the “bat” symbol due to intra-party elections.
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He insisted that the commission’s notice based on inter-party elections was a grave error, as the PTI had held intra-party elections on June 9, 2022, as required by its constitution.
He argued that the ECP had no justification for stripping the PTI of its symbol after the intra-party elections because the electoral body had never objected to the intra-party elections but had identified some flaws in the submitted document, which had been corrected.
He highlighted that the Election Commission embraced the PTI’s decision to hold intra-party elections and announced the decision to issue the election symbol of “bat” in its August 30, 2023 decision and that the matter had become final and complete after the Election Commission’s August 30 decision.
He noted that during the verbal announcement of the August 30 decision, the Election Commission announced that a detailed decision would be issued in this regard, which was widely publicized in print, electronic, and social media.
He did, however, point out that 41 days had passed since the August 30 decision, but no detailed decision had been provided.
“PTI is the largest political party in the country, which is contesting the upcoming elections. Not issuing a detailed decision even after 41 days is a clear violation of fundamental rights, including articles 4, 9, 10A, 15, 16, 17 and 26 of the Constitution,” he said.
As PTI asks ECP to issue verbal order on election symbol, Ali Zafar insisted that the Election Commission was required by the Constitution to hold free, fair, impartial, and transparent elections and that avoiding detailed decisions was a violation of this mandate.