CM Ali Amin Gandapur Files Petition in Peshawar High Court to Declare PTI a Political Party

Peshawar – Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, has filed a constitutional petition in the Peshawar High Court seeking to officially declare Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a political party under the law.
The petition, filed through Advocate Qazi Anwar, names the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as respondents. It challenges Rule 94(4) of the Election Rules 2017, which implies that a political party must have an electoral symbol to be recognized as such.
The petitioner argues that under the Elections Act 2017, the definition of a political party does not require an electoral symbol for recognition. Therefore, the Election Commission’s decision to classify PTI candidates as independent due to the absence of a party symbol is legally flawed and in contradiction with the parent law.
The petition asserts that the Election Rules cannot override the Elections Act, and that legally, PTI continues to exist as a political party despite not having an official election symbol for recent polls.
It further cites that a 13-member bench of the Supreme Court had previously declared PTI a legitimate political entity, reinforcing that the ECP has no authority to consider its candidates as independents.
The case is expected to have significant implications for PTI’s legal standing and its representation in future electoral processes.