Pakistan’s supreme court has rejected an attempt by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party to retain its traditional electoral symbol of a cricket bat, in the latest setback for the jailed leader ahead of a general election.
Khan’s party, at odds with powerful army generals, has been grappling with a military-backed crackdown that has gathered pace before the vote due on 8 February. The party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), alleges the military is attempting to keep it out of the election race, a charge the army denies.
A party’s electoral symbol on ballot papers is significant for voters to be able to identify its candidates in the country where the majority of the constituencies are in rural areas with low literacy.
On Saturday, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa announced the ruling in a live late night telecast of the proceedings on the top court’s website.
Stripped of the bat, PTI candidates will need to contest the election using individual symbols, which could confuse voters.
“This, by far, is the worst decision impacting million of voters,” the party said in a statement, with its chair, barrister Gohar Khan, announcing that its candidates will stand as independents.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had stripped the PTI of the symbol on the technical grounds that it had not held internal elections, a prerequisite for any political party to take part in the national vote.
The party had challenged that ruling in the top court.
The election campaign, delayed since November, has been a lacklustre race in an uncertain political environment with Khan, 71, jailed and disqualified from contesting.
His main rival and former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been cleared of all court cases and a lifetime ban to contest the polls. Analysts say he appears to be the frontrunner, thanks to what they say is military support, an advantage in a country where army generals mostly decide on the making or breaking of governments. The army says it is apolitical.