Imran Khan’s Iconic Bat – Unmasking the Flaws in the System
The current state of politics in Pakistan is a cringe-worthy display that lays bare the bias of the state institutions against the most popular party of Pakistan, the Tehreek-e-Insaf. The reprehensible tactic of repeatedly abducting Tehreek-e-Insaf members across the nation, forcing them to change loyalties, hindering them from filing nomination papers, and then harassing and abducting their proposers and seconders to prevent them from appearing in front of the returning officers, reflects a deliberate attempt to manipulate the electoral process using the state machinery. Despite these tactics, the ruling elite, and unelected powers, seemingly unsatisfied that they could secure victory for the absconder and convicted criminal Nawaz Sharif, went further. Fearing Imran Khan's popularity, they wielded the country's institutions, particularly the biased and controversial Election Commission of Pakistan, to strip PTI of its electoral symbol, the bat, with the Chief Justice of Pakistan acting as a facilitator to rubber stamp ECP’s farcical decision.
ECP’s Partiality Against PTI
The Election Commission of Pakistan has been embroiled in controversies for serving as a facilitator to sideline Imran Khan and his party from the political arena, paving the way for the unpopular Nawaz Sharif who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and disqualified for life on corruption charges
ECP’s controversial decisions caused major ripples across the political landscape in 2022 and 2023. Some of its contentious decisions against PTI include:
- Announced its verdict in the eight-year-old prohibited funding case against the PTI while completely ignoring similar cases of other parties specially PPP and PMLN. ECP declared that the PTI had indeed received prohibited funding, issuing a show-cause notice to the party.
- Disqualified PTI chairman and deposed premier Imran Khan preventing him from being a member of the National Assembly in the Toshakhana reference.
- Rejected a PTI plea to disqualify the party’s defecting MNAs.
- Initiated contempt proceedings against Imran as well as his party leaders Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry for issuing statements against the electoral body and its chief election commissioner (CEC).
- Took no action against the pre-poll rigging complaints during the submission of nomination papers and scrutiny phase.
- Rejected 90% of PTI leaders' nomination papers on unsubstantiated grounds.
- Failed to conduct elections within 90 days after the dissolution of assemblies in Punjab, KPK and then nationwide.
- Nominated a biased caretaker setup that included sympathizers of PMLN and PPP.
BAT: The Ultimate Obstacle!
As if disqualifying Imran Khan and stripping him of his Party Chairmanship was not enough to keep PTI out, ECP declared PTI's intra-party elections as unlawful, stripping the party of its iconic electoral symbol, the BAT.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenged the Election Commission’s decision of nullifying its intra-party elections held in June 2022 in Peshawar High Court on the grounds that the electoral body lacked the authority to question internal elections of any political party.
The petition argued that the ECP overstepped its bounds by acting as a trial court and raising concerns about the party’s adherence to its constitution during the intra-party elections. A five-member panel of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected the organisational elections of Khan’s party and its plea to have a cricket bat as the electoral symbol for the general elections.
The Peshawar High Court declared the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to revoke the PTI’s ‘bat’ electoral symbol and reject its intra-party polls as “Illegal”.
ECP challenged Peshawar High Court’s decision on PTI's bat symbol in the Supreme Court, the verdict of which was announced a little before the midnight after a marathon hearing that lasted two entire days.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising the CJP Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, set aside the Peshawar High Court’s order that reinstated “bat” as the party’s electoral symbol for the upcoming general elections.
A verdict that meant that the largest and most popular party in the country will be denied the opportunity to participate in the elections, thereby stripping millions of Pakistanis of their fundamental right to vote for their preferred political party.
Legal and political experts, and people from all walks of life were in disbelief over Supreme Court’s decision to strip PTI of its electoral symbol and declared it a “Huge blow to fundamental rights”.
Jamshed Hussain - Chairman Human Rights Council of Pakistan
"There is serious concern over the decision of the Supreme Court to deprive Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of its electoral symbol, a major political party, a few days before the general elections in the country. If there is no transparency in the elections, important questions may arise at the national and international level. “
Lahore High Court Bar
“The Lahore High Court Bar’s unequivocally declared the Supreme Court’s withdrawal of the bat symbol from PTI as unconstitutional. Secretary High Court asserted that all political parties enjoy equal rights to participate in elections, highlighting a fundamental principle essential for a democratic process. The statement from the Lahore High Court Bar Association underscored a grave reality – under such circumstances, conducting a transparent and fair election becomes an uphill battle.”
Dawn News – Zahid Hussain – Journalist
The hope for a democratic transition has been dented further by Saturday’s decision.
IT ranks among those inglorious decisions taken by the top court which have been long remembered for breaching democratic norms.
The verdict of the three-member bench led by the chief justice has not only divested a political party of its election symbol, it has, arguably, also taken away the fundamental right of political participation. The controversial ruling depriving the PTI of its iconic bat symbol has seemingly stripped the electoral process of whatever legitimacy it was left with.
Reema Omer - Lawyer
“SC judgment upholding ECP decision to deny PTI election symbol is an excessive, punitive response to not conducting intra-party polls as per law.
It is a huge blow to our fundamental rights jurisprudence regarding political parties + political participation.
Extremely unfortunate.”
Jibran Nasir – Human Rights Activist and Lawyer
“This most regrettably is equivalent to disenfranchising tens of millions of voters across Pakistan.”
Barrister Asad Rahim Khan
“Given the nature of its decisions and the now routine absurdity of its logic, this is probably the shortest time in which the Supreme Court has lost its credibility. An utterly ludicrous order.”
Activist Ammar Ali Jan said the verdict was “not just a defeat for PTI but a defeat for democratic norms in Pakistan”.
Ammar Ali Jan – Activist and member Haqooq-e-Khalq Party
“The idea that a mainstream party can be denied its electoral symbol is disgraceful. It will always be used by the ECP to undermine political parties that confront the establishment. About time ideological debates among parties replace electoral engineering by invisible forces.”
“This is not a defeat for PTI. Its a defeat for democratic norms in Pakistan. Everyone must fight together to defend democracy and the constitution in Pakistan.”
Uzair Younis - Director of the Atlantic Council’s Pakistan Initiative
“There are no winners here.
The only loser is Pakistan and its democracy.”
Lawyer Hassan A. Niazi
“The verdict sets a “terrible precedent” and “contradicts the court’s own settled jurisprudence in the Benazir Bhutto case on fundamental rights”.
“It is not just the rights of a political party that were at stake but the rights of millions of voters who have now been effectively stripped of exercising their choice in favor of a political party,”
Mirza Moiz Baig - Lawyer
“The ECP’s decision to strip PTI of its electoral symbol and the Supreme Court affirming the same appears to be inconsistent with the Elections Act and the Supreme Court’s own judgment in the District Bar Rawalpindi case”.
Michael Kugelman, an analyst and scholar on South Asian affairs
“PTI leaders jailed. PTI electoral candidates' nomination papers denied. PTI online rallies/fundraisers blocked. Top PTI rival's legal woes melt away. SC justices perceived as siding w/PTI step down. PTI denied use of election symbol.
This is brazen, not subtle, pre-polls rigging.”
Abdul Moiz Jaferii
“Ridiculous hearing, farcical decision.”
Advocate Faisal Siddique
“The verdict on PTI's bat symbol will join the ranks of the notorious Maulvi Tameez-ud-din case in the annals of legal history.”
Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed
“Election Act section 215 is the new Article 62 1F of the constitution.”
Tariq Mahmood Khokhar - Former Attorny General
“An unelected and unaccountable institution is infringing upon the democratic right of the people to vote.”
Sarwar Bari - Former FAFEN Head
“SC decision is not only against PTI, it is primarily against our constitution and the people of Pakistan. It is as bad as Bhutto judicial murder. Today every leader is criminally silent & waiting to grab crumbs like vultures.”
Farhatullah Babar – PPP Senior Leader
“Denial of election symbol is equivalent to denial of participation in elections. Power to deny symbol therefore is too huge a power to be exercised casually. The greater a power, the greater must be restraints and checks on using it.”
Asas Rahim - Senior Lawyer
“The rationale behind the supreme court’s order is imprudent.”
Imran Riaz – Journalist and Anchorperson
“This election has become completely controversial. There will be an attempt to give the benefit of this whole game to Nawaz Sharif, but millions of Pakistanis will have to face the instability and deterioration in the future.”
Babar Awan – Former Law Minister
“Spending billions of rupees on elections, with salaries in the crores, perks, and lavish expenses – all at the expense of a struggling nation's budget. Rather than these extravagant costs, save the budget of the poor nation and instead release a pigeon at Minar-e-Pakistan and simply conduct the coronation ceremony (of Nawaz Sharif).”
Maria Memom – Journalist and Anchorperson
“After today, the comparison with the 2018 elections have become irrelevant and obsolete.
New game, New rules.”
Athar Kazmi – Journalist
“Pakistan’s top court has a long history of being accused of involvement in political engineering. Once again as many predicted a controversial but not surprising verdict of Supreme court bench, headed by chief justice Qazi Faez Isa, strips Pakistan’s largest political party PTI of its iconic electoral symbol just days before the general elections.”
Abuzar Salman Niazi - Lawyer
“They couldn't see irregularities, illegalities and police interference in General Elections but were able to knock out a party on the basis of purported irregularities in intra party elections.”
Saqib Bashir – Court Reporter
“Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa has written his name in "golden letters" in history by imposing a ban on the major political party of this country from not marking on technical grounds 26 days before the election and sealed the one-sided elections of February 8. “
Ahmed Jamal Pirzada - Economist
“QFI and co worked hard to throw every roadblock in the way of a simple constitutional point of election in 90 days. He is now working hard in helping the authoritarian setup destroy what is left of democracy in Pakistan.”
Faisal Siddiqui - Lawyer & legal Expert
He gave 5 fundamental, legal reasons why the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke PTI’s electoral symbol is completely indefensible. This decision is like one of those unfortunate decisions in history which had done irrefutable damage to democracy in Pakistan.
What Next…
The stripping of PTI's electoral symbol, the bat, points to a broader more serious issue – the vulnerability of national institutions to political manipulation. As the Election Commission's decisions echo historical patterns of partiality, the very essence of democracy is at stake.
In the face of these challenges, it is crucial for citizens to demand transparency, fairness, and accountability within the electoral system. The journey towards a robust democracy requires an unwavering commitment to upholding the principles that form its bedrock.
Only through a strong commitment to democratic principles can Pakistan successfully navigate these turbulent times, preserving the people's fundamental right to choose and ensure that the voice of the people remains the true cornerstone of governance.
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