The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has set October 2 as the date for a hearing regarding the intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following a petition from Akbar S. Babar.
Babar lodged the petition against the PTI’s intra-party elections conducted on March 3. The PTI had previously conducted elections on June 9, 2022, but the ECP invalidated these in November 2023. The case lasted about one-and-a-half years, and the unavailability of a bench contributed to its extended duration.
Read: PTI Challenges Practice and Procedure Ordinance in Supreme Court
On November 23, 2023, the ECP issued an order giving PTI 20 days to conduct fresh elections to avoid losing its electoral symbol, the ‘bat’. This directive was issued as political campaigns were intensifying for the elections scheduled for February 8.
In response, eager to maintain its symbolic bat, PTI quickly complied with the ECP’s ruling and conducted new intra-party elections on December 2, 2023. However, the ECP nullified this effort on December 22 after a detailed review of the party’s internal processes, rendering PTI ineligible for the election symbol.
