The PTI announced on Thursday that it would hold the intra-party elections on March 3 which was due after the Supreme Court stripped the party of its bat symbol and upheld the country’s top electoral authority decision.

Polling would be held at the party’s central office and all four provincial secretariats. According to the schedule, candidates can submit the nomination papers on February 23 and 24.

Scrutiny of papers would be conducted on February 25 and a decision on the papers would be announced on February 27.

In January, the Supreme Court on Saturday set aside the Peshawar High Court order that reinstated “bat” as the party’s electoral symbol and upheld the December 23 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan that nullified the intra-party elections of the PTI.

A three-member SC bench comprising CJP Isa, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Justice Musrat Hilali announced the decision on January 12, 2024.

Many experts and journalists have expressed concerns over the decision.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had said: “Denying a political party its electoral symbol not only significantly hinders its ability to freely participate in elections, it also effectively disenfranchises its voters, who rely on electoral symbols to choose their representatives,” it said.