The gloomy future of PTI without “Bat”
On 13th January supreme court of Pakistan striped PTI of its electoral symbol “Bat” in a landmark judgement, announced on the petition of ECP challenging the Peshawar High Court verdict. The said judgement of the SC is being censured by legal and political analysts on the ground that not only has the judgement taken away the right of PTI party to function under Article 17 of the constitution, but it has also disenfranchised millions of voters.
The candidates of PTI will now be contesting as independents to the disappointment of the party. Having different symbols for more than one ballot papers will certainly confuse the not very literate voters of the party, and it will take a huge toll on its victory prospects. Even if the party wins large number of seats in the elections through it’s independent candidates by conducting diligent awareness campaigns, it will not be granted any share in the seats reserved for women and minorities in the assemblies.
As provided under article 51(6), the reserved seats can only be granted to the political parties in proportion to the general seats that they have secured in the general elections. Furthermore, the independent seat winners, so rendered after the Supreme Court verdict, will be susceptible to pressure tactics of the adversaries. They will also be vulnerable to the alluring maneuvers of the opponents, because an independent candidate is not supposed to lose its seat in the assembly on account of defection from the party as laid down in the constitution under article 63A.
All these possibilities have virtually rended the PTI disfunctional and have narrowed down its chances of securing a formidable majority in any assembly to form a government. Despite all these, the chances of PTI to form government(s) remain extant, provided its independent seat winners demonstrate courage and exhibit loyalty with the party. Article 51(6) provides roam for such an aggrieved party to avail the support of alliance(s) in order to secure it’s share of the reserved seats.
The party may instruct it’s steadfast members of an assembly to join a political party with whom it may have signed a momorandum of understanding. As a result, the party (for example Jamat-e-Islami in PTI’s) will secure the reserved seats in proportion to its own members plus the independent members of PTI. This way, they will be in an position to form a government and distribute the reserved seats in accordance with the provisions of the MOU. Again, this will depend upon the nerves of the independent members and the leaders of the allied party whether they can navigate through the adversities and give their harbingers a fight to remember.
Long live democracy
By
Elahi Bakhsh
Lecturer Department of Political Science
Govt College Chitral
