ISLAMABAD The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday decided to move the Peshawar High Court against its decision on PTI’s election symbol ‘bat’.

The electoral watchdog will approach the division bench of the Peshawar High Court against the single bench ruling. It was decided at an important meeting of ECP held here following the PHC ruling.

It is to be mentioned here that the PHC on Tuesday last allowed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to retain the ‘bat’ as its electoral symbol suspending the Election Commission of Pakistan’s ruling regarding withdrawal of the election symbol over the flawed intra-party polls of PTI.

PHC Justice Kamran Hayat had issued the ruling, suspending the ECP’s December 22 verdict on petitions filed against the intra-party polls of PTI. 

The judge remarked that ECP was not authorised to issue verdict on the intra-party elections. Issuing notices to the parties, he adjourned the hearing till January 9. A number of political parties have also reacted to the PHC decision of restoring the PTI’s election symbol ‘bat’. PML-N rejected the PHC decision calling it an attack on Election Commission’s authority and pre-poll rigging that reeks of partisanship. In his remarks, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif said that the ECP had given a fact-based decision over the irregularities and rigging in the PTI intra-party elections. The PHC decision is an attack on the jurisdiction and authority of the ECP. PTI is being handed an advantage through this prepoll rigging, just the way RTS had snatched away the mandate of the political parties, including PML-N mandate in Punjab overnight, in the 2018 elections.