ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday claimed that despite court orders, conspiracies are still being hatched to snatch its electoral symbol of bat and exclude the party from February 8 general elections.
Speaking at a presser, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan, Latif Khosa, and others, said the “bat” was not just the PTI’s electoral symbol but was also the symbol of the expectations of the Pakistani nation.
“The Supreme Court has settled that snatching the electoral symbol is equivalent to dissolving a political party and this right only lies with the apex court in Article 17 of the constitution,” he added.
“All these political leaders [of the Pakistan Democratic Movement] won’t be able to gain anything on February 8. They will all lose their seats if free, fair, and transparent elections are held,” he said, adding “Therefore, they are trying to take the bat away from PTI.”
Gohar stressed that he was a representative of Imran Khan, saying the former prime minister “was, is, and will always remain PTI chairman and leader” whether he is out or in jail.
He highlighted that the highest number of nomination papers had been filed by PTI candidates, adding, “If you take away our electoral symbol, do all of them contest as independent candidates? If this happens, who will be responsible for horse-trading after the polls?”
Gohar pointed out that the upcoming elections were the most crucial for the country and derailing them would result in a huge loss for the country.
He also played videos of other political leaders criticising the Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s verdict, which he insisted is tantamount to attacking the judiciary.
“Is it not better for the judiciary to look into this matter,” he asked, adding conspiracies were being hatched to exclude the PTI from the electoral process.
“They [PML-N] are terrified…tell Maryam Nawaz that on Feb 08, her role will be that of a grandmother and that’s it,” remarked Gohar.
Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Latif Khosa lamented the leniencies being shown to PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif.
“We have seen how his nomination papers were accepted […] how is it possible that a man who has been disqualified by the top court of the country is being facilitated,” he regretted.
“On the other end, the nomination papers of none of our candidates were accepted. This is the worst poll rigging in the history of Pakistan,” he claimed but warned that the entire world was watching this in real-time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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