Candidates of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will be contesting next month's general elections as independent candidates. The move was necessitated after the party lost its electoral symbol, 'Bat'. But the party has devised a unique solution to help voters match candidates to symbols in each constituency.
On Sunday, PTI's social media team came up with the idea of a web-based portal where people can visually match a symbol to the party in each constituency.
In a clip posted on its official account, the PTI said that voters can search for a candidate's name and the symbol the Election Commission of Pakistan has allotted them.
PTI Social Media Team has created a portal to search for candidate name & symbol. See video below showing a search for “NA1” & the results with candidate name & symbol. We are just waiting for data for each candidate before we go LIVE! #ChallengeAccepted #PrimeMinisterImranKhan pic.twitter.com/BhI4bOfIfJ
— PTI (@PTIofficial) January 14, 2024
PTI said that they have completed the portal but are waiting on the official data for each candidate and the symbol allotted to them.
In a demo video posted on social media alongside the announcement, PTI showed how results would appear if someone searched for the constituency NA-1. As soon as the search button is clicked, the name of Imran Khan, constituency NA-1 and the symbol, "Batsman" were shown as the result.
In response, lawyer Saifullah Khan Afridi responded on the social platform "X", formerly known as Twitter, that if a web app is built and conveyed into apps for mobile phones, it could be quickly distributed to voters.
If we convert this web app into android/iOS application as well , it will spread into every Pakistani mobile easily
— Saif Ullah Khan AFridi (@SaifKhOfficial) January 14, 2024
Another person reacted by saying it was innovative and easy.
This innovative portal by the PTI Social Media Team is a remarkable step towards transparency in the electoral process. The ease with which one can search for candidate names and symbols is truly commendable. Looking forward to the LIVE launch once data for each candidate is…
— Muhmmad Azhar (@AzharTheGreat) January 14, 2024
Another suggested publishing lists of candidates and symbols constituency-wise.
Make a list of all the candidates with their symbol and publish it on X
— Hamza Asif (@whirlbeyndTruth) January 14, 2024
A user pointed out that PTI has been technologically advanced compared to competitors.
In the realm of social media and technology, Imran Khan is far ahead of the curve, leaving other parties in their technological dark ages. There's absolutely no comparison.
— Narrative Nomad (@Idealist96) January 14, 2024
User Shahzad Khalid suggested making it an option in the PTI Rabita app.
Advice to put it in the PTI Rabita app so that everyone can access it easily
— Tera Baap (@teerabaap1947) January 14, 2024
PTI candidates lost their party's identifiable symbol of a 'Bat' after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last month determined that the PTI had failed to hold intraparty elections as per the law and in the manner prescribed in the party's constitution. Consequently, intraparty elections held in December were deemed as null and void while the party's electoral symbol was withdrawn.
The PTI challenged the matter in the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which restored the symbol of PTI and suspended the ECP's ruling. The ECP, however, took the matter to the Supreme Court, which issued an order late on Saturday, set aside the PHC order and upheld the ECP's ruling.
Anticipating this, the PTI announced on Saturday that it would issue certificates from a splinter group of the party, the PTI-Nazriati, helmed by Asif Iqbal Dar. Dar, in a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Saturday evening, stated that the PTI had issued fake certificates and that none of those who were provided with certificates of PTI-N were party members.
Consequently, they fell afoul of the Election Act 2017, which bars the candidate of a party from contesting elections on the symbol of another party.
The ECP issued election symbols as per schedule on January 13 after candidates submitted party certificates to the respective returning and district returning officers.
PTI candidates, who had announced to contest the elections scheduled for February 8 as independents in the wake of the Supreme Court's orders, were allotted various symbols from the pool of symbols reserved for independent candidates, including teapots to shoes, bowls, kettles, etc.