ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf as a political party can no longer contest an election on its symbol `bat` as it failed to hold intra-party election to meet the requirement of the Political Parties Order 2002, it emerged on Friday.

The party is not eligible to get allotted an election symbol for any upcoming elections. Any ticket holder can contest any upcoming by-election as an independent candidate but not on the party election symbol `bat`.According to a statement of the Election Commission of Pakistan, `The PTI has failed to conduct intra-party elections as per section 12 of the Political Parties Order, 2002...[hence] it loses eligibility for allotment of election symbol in any ensuing elections under section 14 of the Political Parties Order, 2002.

A senior official of the ECP told Dawn that the PTI`s last intraparty elections were held on March 23, 2013 and according to its own constitution, it was supposed to conduct the exercise by March 23, 2017, which it did not.

The party leader and other officebearers of every political party at the federal, provincial and local levels, wherever applicable, are required to be elected periodically in accordance with the party`s constitution through secret ballotbased on a democratic and transparent system under section 11 of the political parties order. The of ficial said the law had capped the term of service of of fice-bearers at fouryears.

Every member of a political party, subject to provisions of the party`s constitution, is to be given an equal opportunity of contesting elections for a party office, includingthatofthe partyleader.

All members of a political party at the federal, provincial and local levels constitute the electoral college to select a party`s general council at the respective levels.

Secdon 12 of the Order reads: `The party leader of each political party shall, within seven days of completion of the intra-party elections, submit a certificate under his signatures to the Election Commission to the effect that the elections were held in accordance with the constitution of the party and this Order to elect the party leader and other office-bearers at the federal, provincial and local levels, wherever applicable.

The certificate should contain information regarding the date of the last intra-party elections, the names, designations and addresses of the party leader and all other office-bearers elected at various levels. The election results, including the total number of votes cast and the number of votes secured by each contestant for all of its party offices, and a copy of the party`s notifications declaring the results of the election, are supposed to be submitted as well.

He said each political party, under section 13, is obliged to submit a consolidated statement of assets and liabilities, including annual income and expenses as well as sources of funds within 60 days of the close of each financial year.

He said under section 14 of the Order, a party which failed to meet any of the two conditions would lose eligibility to obtain a symbol to contest elections to any house of the parliament or provincial assemblies.

When contacted, PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn that the ECP should have given a notice to the party before taking such a drastic step.

`They [ECP] took us by surprise by revealing this at the last moment when we had gone there to get [the election] symbol for our candidate for forthcoming by-poll in Talagang,` he said.

He said that the party would challenge the ECP decision before the high court.