In a decision that has rattled Pakistan’s political landscape, the Supreme Court of Pakistan overruled a previous verdict from the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday which allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party to use their iconic bat election symbol. The Party’s use of this symbol is now revoked. Full details of the verdict can be viewed here.
The PTI, led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, relies on the bat symbol particularly due to the low literacy rates in the country, which stood far below the average South Asian rate in 2019 as per World Bank data. Many voters recognizably associate the party with its symbol for their voting decisions. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) initially decided to take away PTI’s symbol due to the party’s failure to conduct an intra-party election in accordance with the law.
The PTI then challenged the ECP’s restriction order at both the Lahore High Court and the Peshawar High Court. The Lahore case, initially heard by a single judge but escalated to a Full Bench hearing upon PTI’s request is still pending adjudication. Furthermore, the PHC on Wednesday, declared the EPC’s order as “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”, according to the PHC’s case judgment.
However, the Supreme Court consisting of Chief Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali declared that PTI’s petition submitted to the PHC was “not maintainable” after a two-day hearing, thereby rejecting the PHC’s interpretation that the provision of the law was absurd with no unconstitutional provision. This move by the Supreme Court overrode the PHC’s statement that “ECP did not have any jurisdiction to question or adjudicate the Intra Party Elections of a political party”.
Following the announcement, PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan expressed his deep disappointment and labeled the decision as controversial. He indicated that the withdrawal of the bat symbol could result in the loss of 227 reserved seats of the party and potentially encourage corruption. His sentiments can be viewed in detail here.
In the aftermath of the unfavorable ruling, PTI announced that all candidates will contest the election independently and issued a separate election symbol for each one. The official candidate list can be found here. Gohar additionally mentioned that his party would file an appeal against the verdict and expressed hope for its reversal.