PTI candidates to contest elections as independents, says Gohar

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that following the Supreme Court's verdict, party nominees will now contest elections as independent candidates, vowing to get votes in the name of party founder Imran Khan. The apex court on Saturday set aside the January 10 order of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), effectively depriving the PTI of its iconic election symbol of the cricket bat in a major blow to the former ruling party ahead of the February 8 general elections. Talking to the media after the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, PTI lawyers said that following the court verdict, our candidates will now contest polls as independent candidates. They added that PTI has already developed a strategy in this regard and urged the 'massive' voter base of the party to not worry about the current circumstances. A key member of the PTI legal team, Barrister Ali Zafar said that PTI will fight the election vigorously, even after the apex court's decision to take the party’s electoral symbol of ‘bat’. Read: SC deals final blow to PTI’s ‘bat’ hopes Zafar added that the party is still registered and the court has not barred its candidates from contesting the polls. PTI, which has been highlighting its deprival of a level playing field; expressed disappointment over the apex court’s decision. Barrister Zafar said, “PTI has above 100 million voters, no one objected to the intra-party elections, but those not in the party objected.” “None out of the 14 petitioners were a part of PTI,” he added. Zafar concluded by stating that following the top court’s verdict, PTI will lose all reserved seats and will not get any reserved seats in the national or provincial assembly.

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