‘Bat’ symbol refusal forces PTI to hold intra-party polls

ISLAMABAD: The refusal of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to allot to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) its poll symbol of “bat” in any election has compelled it to hold its intra-party elections or remain deprived of its sign apart from facing other penalties.

The intra-party election is long overdue in the PTI. Its Chairman Imran Khan has been postponing it because of one impediment or the other. The last such exercise was held in March 2013, which turned out to be a worst experience by all standards.

The PTI was all set to hold its election early last year, but was incapacitated due to grave infighting and internal strife. Two groups led by Shafqat Mehmood and Chaudhry Sarwar were pitched against each other in Punjab and were not prepared to accept each other despite Imran Khan’s personal efforts to bury the hatchet.

The Panama Papers disclosures emerged in April last year as a good excuse for Imran Khan to indefinitely defer the election saying that he now wants to focus on the campaign against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his children and his close family members in regard to the offshore companies. He stated that the poll process would be organized after a decision by a superior court or a judicial commission in this connection.

Not only he but his entire party remained focused on this issue for the past one year and the internal election never figured as a priority. However, the ECP barred the PTI from using its election symbol in a couple of by-elections.

The party got a temporary relief from high court, which allowed its candidates to use its election symbol. But this was not a permanent solution. Now, Imran Khan has decided to hold the intra-party polls on June 11, falling in the holy month of Ramazan, to remove the legal deficiency.

The only high-profile election that the PTI held in 2013 was scandalously marred by grave allegations of rigging, corruption and manipulation. Ultimately, Imran Khan made a tribunal headed by Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed to investigate the poll. It handed down a damning report and indicted top leaders including Jehangir Tareen, Pervez Khattak, Azam Swati and Aleem Khan, recommending their immediate sacking.

After the PTI chairman refused to accept the report of the tribunal, Wajihuddin Ahmed went public and demanded purging of the party of such elements, who committed fraud and deception. However, instead of implementing its recommendations, Imran Khan dissolved the tribunal, fueling a serious row between him and the former judge. Finally, Wajihuddin was ousted from the party. In 2015, the PTI chairman dissolved all party organizations apparently in pursuance of the findings of the tribunal.

Subsequently, he picked up Tasneem Noorani as the new election commissioner to organize the exercise. However, Noorani also quit in last March after developing unbridgeable differences with Imran Khan over the mode of election and other technical issues. He wanted the contest to be held for every single office of the party but Imran Khan pressed for some nominations. Other members of this election commission also stepped down for the same reason. Later, the PTI chairman appointed Senator Nauman Wazir as the stopgap election commissioner. After that, he chose Azam Swati for the job. He is the fourth election commissioner.

Given the kind of unending squabbling and bickering the PTI has always been confronted with, it would not be less than a miracle if the June 11 exercise will be a smooth sailing. In the coming few days, the competing groups will emerge. The focus will be on the top slot of Punjab while there will be hardly any significant clash to grab the senior positions in Balochistan. However, there will be a great scramble to clinch the senior most berth in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and there will also be some competition in Sindh.

Lack of strong organizational structure all over Pakistan has always been a major shortcoming and failing of the PTI. This deficiency keeps surfacing every now and then. In Karachi, all the top office bearers lost even the last local council elections.

There is no likelihood of any change in the top most central hierarcy of the PTI whether nominations will be made or direct election will be held. Imran Khan will remain its lifelong chairman; Shah Mehmood Qureshi will continue to be his deputy while Jehangir Tareen will be its secretary general.