PTI leader Asad Qaiser on Friday said his party would “merge” with the Sunni Ittehad Council if the Election Commission of Pakistan accepted its recent intra-party polls and returned its electoral symbol of ‘bat’.

In January, after back-and-forth verdicts by the ECP and the Peshawar High Court (PHC), the PTI’s electoral symbol ultimately was revoked by the Supreme Court.

On March 3, the PTI conducted its intra-party elections for the third time in the past two years, following its Dec 2 elections that were earlier declared invalid.

A day ago, the Peshawar High Court upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to reject the party allocation of reserved women and minority seats.

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The dismissal of its plea challenging the ECP verdict has left the SIC — the new home of PTI-backed winning candidates — with no reserved seats. The PTI has said it would take the matter to the Supreme Court.

Speaking on Dawn News show ‘Doosra Rukh’ on whether PTI-backed candidates who joined the SIC would remain in it, Qaiser said, “Yes, we will remain but we will also merge with it.”

He explained that if the party got back its electoral symbol after the recent intra-party polls, “both [parties] would merge” and “remain as PTI”, rather than the current scenario of its candidates being a part of the SIC.

On the matter of whether it would be allowed under the laws, he said his party was consulting legal experts.

When asked whether it was the right decision for PTI-backed candidates to join the SIC, Qaiser replied that the party held “many consultations” amongst it and that the options were few.

Speaking about the PHC verdict, the ex-NA speaker said the party’s legal team “should challenge it in the Supreme Court”.

Referring to the coalition government, he said, “A fake government cannot understand this country’s economic situation. […] They do not have the capacity, capability or even authority to make decisions. They will run away themselves.”

When asked if other parties in the current coalition government, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, would stick with the PML-N-PPP coalition, Qaiser replied: “God-willing, there would be public pressure to the extent that the mandate thieves will leave this [government].

“A new government will be formed, which will rightly comprise of those given the public mandate,” he said, adding that he saw “a change coming in four to five months”.

When asked if he thought elections would be held anew, the PTI MNA expressed hope of “getting justice” from the cases currently under way in the election appellate tribunals and other courts. “And we will get our seats back [from the courts],” he said.

On the possibility of bringing a vote of no-confidence against the current government, Qaiser said, “Definitely, when we will have the [required] numbers, there will be our representation. God-willing, Imran Khan will be the prime minister.”

PTI to adopt ‘confrontation’ as future strategy

Separately, Qaiser made it succinctly clear that his party would opt for “confrontation” in the face of the treatment meted out by government institutions.

Speaking to the media alongside PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan and Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan in Islamabad today, the former National Assembly speaker declared “fighting” the government in parliament and also on the roads.

“Let me categorically say that we will have a confrontation now. I want to assure my workers that this is a long war. It’s not short. We still have a long way to go,” he said.

“We will fight them in the parliament and also on the roads. We are preparing ourselves for a confrontation. We will not back down, be it any kind of pressure.”

Lambasting the ECP’s actions, Qaiser claimed whoever wanted to become a parliamentarian should be on good terms with the electoral watchdog and “bribe” the officials working there.

“The target is to give 20 more [National Assembly] seats to the PML-N,” the PTI MNA added. “They are taking our seats. They already took one yesterday. 19 from Punjab are left now. Who will believe in this parliament?”

Qaiser suggested that the ECP should just issue a notification of the winner instead of wasting the public’s money to “hold a sham of an election”. He also said the way ordinances were presented in the National Assembly earlier today bypassed all the rules.

“This is not a parliament anymore. It has become a Majlis-i-Shoora that [General] Ziaul Haq had formed,” he asserted, adding that the government was blatantly violating the Constitution and laws.

Towards the end of his media talk, he urged National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to immediately notify Ayub as the incumbent opposition leader and halt the “delay tactics”.

PTI opposes tweaks in ordinances

On the other hand, Ayub said the government flouted all NA rules to propose amendments to seven ordinances.

“Only the government knows about the amendments that have to be made. The so-called law minister said it’s because the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is here. What is the link of criminal law with the IMF?” he said.

The PTI leader accused the government of intending to privatise institutions at the behest of the IMF. He warned that the brunt of these decisions would be faced by the public.

Speaking on the floor of the NA, Ayub accused the government of doing a “mis-shift in the law” by changing words.

Addressing the lawmakers, he asked them if they had read all the ordinances in which changes were being proposed: “Khawaja Asif sahib, have you read? Khursheed Shah sahib, have you read? The answer is no.”

“They will give the rate to their favourite contractor and leave the country in shambles,” the PTI MNA claimed. Gohar said the opposition had not been given copies of all of the proposed amendments.