"Terrorist party can't be allotted symbol": Maryam Nawaz slams Imran Khan after 'bat' snub

ISLAMABAD: In a veiled attack at Imran Khan and his party after it was snubbed of its iconic ‘bat’ symbol, Pakistan Muslim-League Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz said that a “terrorist party” could not be allotted an electoral symbol, Dawn reported.

In an apparent reference to the PTI, PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz on Monday said a “terrorist party” could not be allotted an electoral symbol as her party kicked off its poll campaign in Okara.

Addressing party supporters in Okara on Monday, Maryam — without mentioning the PTI — said, “Sher [lion] can be allotted sher, but a terrorist party cannot be allotted an election symbol like other political parties.”

“You say your electoral symbol was ‘bat’, no, it was the danda [baton] that you had in your hand. The danda that you used against the state of Pakistan and the public,” Maryam claimed.

Her remarks came just days after the PTI was stripped of its iconic electoral symbol ‘bat’. After marathon hearings over the weekend.

The Pakistani Supreme Court on Saturday upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to revoke the party’s electoral symbol and reject its internal election just a few days before polls.

“Today, what is happening to the PTI is a result of their own actions,” Maryam said.

“There was a danda, not a bat, in your hands and the entire nation saw how you attacked military installations now say, what is your electoral symbol? It should have been the watch that you stole or the petrol bomb that you used against the police,” Dawn quoted her as saying.

The PML-N leader asserted that the nation would not allow a political party to “manipulate” its internal elections and “escape without any consequences”.

Referring to Imran Khan, Maryam said, “It is not his fault, he was used to being a ‘ladla’ [blue-eyed],”

“He was used to getting bail; he was used to facilitation. But neither the facilitation nor the facilitators remain,” she added.

Slamming the former PM over his recent allegations that Nawaz was playing the match with the “umpires of choice”, Maryam said Nawaz’s “real umpire” is the public and it would bring him back to power again.

“If a person loves Pakistan, then they would not vote for anyone except Nawaz Sharif,” she added.

Meanwhile, the PML-N is finally set to unveil its manifesto for the February 8 general elections after much delay.

Further, the delay in the launch of the polls campaign was primarily caused by the PML-N’s long deliberations in ticket distribution and seat adjustment with the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and PML-Q, Dawn reported.