ANP fears losing its election symbol

PESHAWAR: Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Central Senior Vice President of the Awami National Party (ANP), voiced concerns on Tuesday about the possibility that depriving them of their party's election symbol was under consideration as a means of striking a balance to establish another ruling.

The ANP leader's remarks followed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reserving its verdict on the ANP's plea seeking six months of additional time to hold intra-party polls. The ECP ruling may cost the party its electoral symbol ‘lantern’.

Declaring the party's intra-party polls to be "unconstitutional", the commission had already invalidated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) claim to its electoral symbol ‘bat’.

“May Allah prove it wrong, but they might take a decision against the ANP to prove one judgment right,” Hoti said in a speech, adding that this move was being attempted to be executed in a similar fashion, as verdicts against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party patron-in-chief Jahangir Khan Tareen were delivered.

The ANP politician said some secrets better be kept confidential as they wanted to forget them. However, he requested the concerned quarters that whatever the decision is, it should be in accordance with the law and Constitution of the country.

“According to the law, the intra-party elections have to be held within five years and their five years for the polls will complete in May 2024,” he said.

The senior ANP leader said they would not forget if new wounds were inflicted.

On December 22, a five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the case of the ANP intra-party elections.

ANP Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussain appeared before the bench and informed that the last election of ANP was held back in May 2019 and that the term of their intra-party election was four years. Accordingly, the party’s election was to be held in May this year, he had said.

The ECP officials had explained that the petitioner could not fulfil the legal requirement and wanted more time to do the needful.

A certificate about a political party’s intra-party polls is the pre-requisite for qualifying for the allotment of election symbol.

A member of the electoral authority made it clear that the ECP can extend the intra-party election deadline for five years, not more than that.