Before the February 2024 national elections, Imran Khan’s party was granted permission by a Pakistani High Court to use its famous cricket bat logo as an electoral symbol on Tuesday, December 26. This is a significant legal win for the imprisoned leader.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) removed the emblem from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) due to anomalies in the party’s internal elections. Leaders of the PTI criticized the move, calling it unlawful and a “shameful attempt” to prevent the biggest political force in the nation from running for office.
Pak Court Decision on Imran Khan Party Symbol Election
“Today, the election commission’s decision against PTI, in which its election symbol, the cricket bat, was unjustly revoked through an illegal and unconstitutional order, has been suspended,” reporters were informed by PTI attorney Syed Ali Zafar outside the Peshawar, Northwest, court where the party had filed its appeal.
The electoral watchdog was ordered by the court to restore the cricket bat symbol of the PTI “considering the urgency with which a political party has been deprived of its symbol, signifying that candidates from the general public who were prepared to support the petitioners’ party were deprived of their freedom to vote as they pleased.”
In Pakistan, a nation of over 241 million people with an adult literacy rate of roughly 60%, election symbols are crucial campaign tools for identifying candidates on voting sheets.
The PTI has been protesting more and more against the government’s crackdown on its candidates and campaign rallies. It claims that attempts to prevent Imran Khan and his party from participating in the next elections included an illegal attempt to strip the party of its traditional bat symbol.
Public opinion polls rank the imprisoned Imran Khan as Pakistan’s most popular political person, and his PTI is considered the country’s largest political party.
The English-language Dawn daily questioned the legality of the polls on Tuesday in an editorial following the crackdown on Khan’s supporters and efforts to exclude his party from the voting process.
“Attempts by the state to disband the PTI must end, and fair elections must be held for all parties. Permit the Pakistani people to choose the nation’s leader for the ensuing five years. The editorial stated that political scheming has never succeeded and will only make our numerous difficulties worse.
Imran Khan’s Corruption Case
Imran Khan, 71, claimed that the strong Pakistani military, acting under pressure from the US, was responsible for the legislative vote of no confidence that ousted him from office last year. Washington and Islamabad refute these claims.
The former cricket star and Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been the target of numerous legal actions since his removal. He believes that these lawsuits are an attempt by the military to stop him from regaining power as a result of his support for Pakistan to have an independent foreign policy free from US influence.
Imran Khan was found guilty of corruption at the beginning of August and given a three-year prison sentence. He refutes the accusations. Despite a higher court’s decision to postpone his sentence and grant him bail, Pakistani officials have declined, citing additional litigation against him.
In addition, Imran Khan faces a special court trial behind closed doors on charges that, during his tenure in office, he leaked confidential state secrets to the public. He disputes any misconduct.
Since Pakistan separated from Britain in 1947, the military has overthrown elected governments on multiple occasions, ushering in more than three decades of military rule. The security institution has been under constant fire in recent years due to the interventions, which have encouraged generals to get involved in national politics even when they are not in positions of authority.
