—– Says the scales of justice appeared to be swaying favourably towards a ‘ladla’
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Shehbaz Sharif, the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former prime minis-ter, has likened the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision to suspend the Election Commission of Paki-stan’s (ECP) ruling on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) iconic bat symbol to an “attack” on the commission’s authority.
On Tuesday, the PHC had suspended the ECP decision to nullify the PTI’s intra-party polls and revoke its popular ‘cricket bat’ symbol.
“As elections are scheduled to be held on 8th February, 2024 and last date for allotment of election symbols is 13th January, 2024, so keeping in view the urgency that a political party has been denuded of its symbol, meaning thereby that aspirants from the general public who were willing to vote for the petitioners’ party were divested of their right to vote as per their choice,” it added.
The court in its order directed the commission to publish the PTI’s certificate on its website and restore the electoral symbol of the party.
Addressing party workers during a ceremony at a private hotel in Karachi, Shehbaz said that the ECP’s decision was based on facts and PHC’s decision was tantamount to challenging the commission’s au-thority.
He remarked that the scales of justice appeared to be swaying favourably towards a “ladla” (darling), alluding to the former prime minister Imran Khan, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail in connec-tion with the £190 million settlement and Toshakhana cases.
“That same ladla, who had attacked military installations on May 9, was greeted with ‘good to see you’ remarks in Supreme Court,” he added
He urged a unified response to such court decisions and said that everyone should speak collectively on such verdicts and raise their voices in a resolute manner.
Later, the former prime minister extended congratulations to those joining the party, asserting that a significant number of people and political leaders in Sindh have placed their trust in the PML-N. “I wel-come everyone who has joined us,” he added.
Regarding the upcoming elections on February 8, he expressed full preparedness, stating, “The out-come is in Allah’s hands. Through the ladla, the country suffered destruction, and now efforts are un-derway to recreate such an environment.”
