Gohar rules out possibility of boycott; hopes no delay in polls

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan Tuesday expressed the optimism that elections would be held on February 8, adding the Supreme Court (SC) had already shut the door for any delay in polls.

During an interaction with the media, the PTI chairman hoped that the polls would not be postponed due to the security related concerns as expressed by a political party after a terrorist attack in district Dera Ismail Khan. Police clarified that the terrorists did not target the convoy of a political party but a police station, he added.

Barrister Gohar emphasized that postponement of polls was no answer to any problem but a free, transparent and inclusive election was the sole remedy for all issues. He again ruled out any possibility of boycotting the polls, adding the party would take part in the elections with full preparations and passion.

Gohar reiterated that PTI wanted the SC’s intervention because of the ECP’s inability to perform its due duty, adding that the election body’s sole responsibly was to hold free and fair polls. However, the “commission miserably failed in performing its constitutional obligations hitherto”.

The partiality and bias of the electoral watchdog could be judged from the fact that it did not implement the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) clear ruling on issuing the party’s symbol ‘bat’ while it took no time to implement orders if passed against the PTI, asserted the PTI chief. He pointed out that the ECP did not have any role to intervene into the intra-party poll matter but the commission was targeting the party despite holding the most transparent and free party polls among all the registered political parties in the country.

He stated that the gravity of the situation could be judged by the fact that around 90 percent nomination papers of the PTI candidates were rejected that was unprecedented.