The founder and former chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has promised to surprise his political opponents on election day, despite recent setbacks. This comes after the Supreme Court upheld the ECP’s decision to remove the iconic “bat” symbol from his party.
The PTI had its ‘bat’ emblem revoked in the last weeks running up to the polls after the top court’s Saturday ruling in favour of the ECP. A single matter cannot be heard in two high courts at the same time, according to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who announced the decision, calling the plea in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) invalid.
Transparent intra-party elections are a must for all political parties; the court’s ruling highlighted that the PTI had not demonstrated this. CJP Isa made it clear that the ECP had never been discriminating in its calls for the PTI to hold its intra-party elections; rather, it had done so continuously from May 24, 2021. Thirteen other political parties were singled out in the order as having received severe orders from the ECP.
Therefore, candidates from the PTI will run in separate races, using their own unique electoral insignia. Equal representation for women and minorities was also given up by the party.
The Supreme Court Chief Justice is a devout Muslim, and Muslims are commanded by Allah to not hold resentment or animosity against anybody, even their enemies. Imran made the comment during a media briefing in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail that the Holy Qur’an is for everyone and that it is our duty to remember.
He voiced his concerns about the justice system and urged for the live airing of prison procedures to educate the public about what is happening, all while stressing the importance of transparency.
Khan said that the supreme leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nawaz Sharif, an ally of his, was being targeted in a plot to undermine democracy in Pakistan and put an end to the legal proceedings against him.
“People are not naive; they know who possesses the means to steal the footage of Core Commander House, Islamabad High Court, and the GHQ attack,” Khan said, casting doubt on the identity of the theft suspect. The London Plan included the events of May 9.
The head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that the Pakistani police, the Election Commission of Pakistan, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) were all involved in the London Plan. “If they do not comply, they end up in the ICU; people are kidnapped and tortured,” he continued.
According to the former PTI chairman, the party’s electoral symbol bat was taken and the top and second tier of PTI leadership has been removed from the political arena. He stated, “They are still afraid because people cannot be stopped,” and went on to say that he had a “Plan C” and another plan up his sleeve.
Despite the overthrow of his government, Imran disclosed that talks had taken place with General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, who had advocated for free and fair elections as a remedy for Pakistan’s issues.
After remembering incidents in which PTI members did not respond to threats of violence, Imran Khan made it clear that his party has never taken action against the military. He bemoaned the unfair treatment that certain party members endured, which caused them to depart from the party.
According to the ex-prime minister, he and his wife Bushra Bibi have avoided all contact with the powerful. Nothing has ever been done before by the Chief Election Commissioner. “The election commissioner has also shown the same lack of ethics as those cowardly enemies,” he continued.
In addition to denying ever threatening the ECP with Article 6, the PTI founder emphasised that speaking out against injustice does not make one a traitor.
