The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), although appearing to be losing all ground, is resolved to put up a fight against its political rivals and has unveiled ‘Plan C’ about the timing of voting and assembly formation.
The PTI, founded by former prime minister Imran Khan, faced two major setbacks last Saturday — the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and depriving PTI of its ‘bat’ symbol and the Tehreek-e-Insaf Nazriati backtracking on a deal with the party to share its symbol for elections.
Despite the fact that each PTI candidate will run independently on February 8th using different symbols (such as a kettle, brinjal, tongs, etc.), their leadership has expressed worry that they won’t receive reserved seats.
Any party hoping to win seats in the National Assembly—of which 336 total—would suffer a serious blow from this, as 70 are set aside for women and non-Muslims.
14 of the 65 seats in the Balochistan provincial legislature are reserved; 30 of the 145 seats in the assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are reserved; 38 of the 168 seats in Sindh are reserved; and 74 of the 371 seats in Punjab are reserved.
Senior PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also expressed his concern to journalists in Islamabad about “horse-trading,” saying that if his party’s candidates were successful, other political parties would steal them in order to bolster their own positions.
14 of the 65 seats in the Balochistan provincial legislature are reserved; 30 of the 145 seats in the assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are reserved; 38 of the 168 seats in Sindh are reserved; and 74 of the 371 seats in Punjab are reserved.
Senior PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also expressed his concern to journalists in Islamabad about “horse-trading,” saying that if his party’s candidates were successful, other political parties would steal them in order to bolster their own positions.
According to some legal experts, this would be lawful because, as independent candidates, they will not be subject to party policy and cannot be disqualified under Article 63-A, which deals with a party member’s desertion.
Gohar, the leader of the PTI, declared that “we will not get reserved seats” after the polls on February 8.
But there’s a catch: if our candidates win, they can join us, and together, we can change the party.
Thus, following the elections, we will have three days. We can claim the reserved seats once they join us and inform [necessary authorities] that they have joined this party.
“This is our Plan C—to bring back the people [under one umbrella],” he remarked in response to the anchorperson’s criticism that he shouldn’t have disclosed this plan on live air.
Geo.tv was informed by Barrister Muhammad Ahmed Pansota that although the political party’s symbol has been removed ahead of the next elections, the party itself remains intact.
