IT ranks among those inglorious decisions taken by the top court which have been long remembered for breaching democratic norms.The verdict of the three-member bench led by the chief justice has not only divested a political party of its election symbol, it has, arguably, also taken away the fundamental right of political participation. The controversial ruling depriving the PTI of its iconic bat symbol has seemingly stripped the electoral process of whatever legitimacy it was left with.

There is not even a semblance of fair play as political parties prepare to go to the hustings. The hope for a democratic transition has now been dented further by Saturday’s late-night decision. More importantly, the ruling has come as a disappointment to those who believed that things would change at the top judiciary under the new chief justice, with his reputation for integrity. Instead, the verdict announced by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, after hearings telecast live, evoked memories of some of the most controversial rulings in the past by the Supreme Court, which had caused irreparable damage to the democratic process in Pakistan.

As Reema Omer, a leading constitutional lawyer, has put it, the “judgement upholding ECP decision to deny PTI election symbol is an excessive, punitive response to not conducting intra-party polls as per law”. It may not be the first time a political party has been deprived of its symbol, but there is no precedent of candidates of a major political party being denied the right to fight elections on a common symbol.

PTI........

© Dawn