Akbar S Babar stresses level playing field for PTI intra-party polls

ISLAMABAD: One of the founding members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Akbar S Babar has advised transparent PTI intra party elections.

Babar, who served as the party’s central information secretary and vice-president, fears the party might lose the election symbol bat for which he had gone to the Election Commission of Pakistan back in August 2022 and filed an application for allotment of the very symbol.

“Through a letter, Imran Khan had authorised me to move the electoral body for this symbol bat, which was perfect, keeping in view his cricketing background,” he recalled while talking to The News here. The PTI, formed in 1996, had contested the 1997 general election on lamp as its election symbol, and failed to make any impact on the electoral arena whatsoever.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on November 23 had annulled the PTI’s intra-party elections, held in June last year, and given the party 20 days to hold fresh polls or be ready to lose election symbol bat. The 20-day deadline had begun on the day the electoral body had announced its reserved judgment.

Reacting to the ECP order, PTI lawyer Barrister Gohar Ali had alleged the verdict had been delayed for a special purpose and pointed out that the ECP notice had not stated that the intra-party elections were not according to the PTI’s constitution.

Instead, the notice was about the polls documentation being incomplete. He had announced the judgment would be challenged, and accordingly, the party had moved the Sindh High Court (SHC) against it, the other day, alleging the ECP move was part of an effort to keep the party away from elections.

PTI’s Sindh President Haleem Adil Shaikh and Justice (retd) Noorul Haq N. Qureshi had filed the petition, seeking directives for respondents to give level playing field to all political parties for upcoming general election and hold free and fair polls under judicial oversight through appointment of judicial officers as district returning officers. In a message, Babar, who was once a close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, urged the party’s ideological workers to come forward for transparent elections in the party and insisted that they should be active to ensure transparent intra-party elections in the next 20 days as per the order of Election Commission of Pakistan.

“In case, there are no transparent intra-party elections, the symbol of bat and participation in the elections may be in danger. Therefore, the PTI workers have to come forward to save the party from complete destruction,” he added.

Babar also announced the launch of a nationwide contact campaign with the PTI workers, urging the party workers to gear up to save the party from being highjacked again. He emphasised that the central and provincial PTI Election Commissions should be immediately announced in consultation with unblemished and ideological party members.

The PTI Election Commission, he contended, should immediately announce transparent and constitutional procedure for party elections and voter lists should be released at national, provincial and district levels. Transparent verification of voters, polling date and procedure should be announced without delay.

He believed that transparent intra-party elections under the supervision of PTI workers can make the party an institution and added had decisions not been taken in personal interests, the party would not have had to see this day today.