The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday has suspended an order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) intra-party polls ‘void’ and also revoked its electoral symbol during the past week.
It is to be noted that, Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel had pronounced a short order on a petition, which was jointly filed by the PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali and six other leaders, making request to the court to announce the December 22 verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) without jurisdiction.
While issuing the notices to the respondents, the single judge bench in the statement, added that, “In the meantime, the impugned order dated December 22, 2023, is suspended with the further direction to the Election Commission for publishing the certificate on its website and restoring the election symbol of PTI. This order will be operative till January 9, 2024.”
The judge added that, “As elections are scheduled to take place on February 8, 2024, and that the last date for allotment of the election symbols is January 13, 2024, so keeping in view the need, that a political party had been denuded of its symbol, meaning thereby that aspirants from general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote according to the choice.”
Following the order, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has called it as a historical decision, vowing that the people across the nation would bring the most peaceful and unprecedented revolution in the history via their power of vote on February 8 by bringing the PTI to power with majority.
Considering this, a statement issued by the party’s central secretariat, a PTI spokesperson said that the provincial court had provided firm support to the supremacy of the Constitution, a rule of law, survival and the continuity of democracy and people’s right to vote in the nation via its decision, which would have a significant impact on the political horizon of the nation.
