ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) published an updated list of officially registered political parties on Sunday. The current count of registered political parties in Pakistan has now reached 175.

In this revised list, the name of Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been omitted from the list of party heads. The document indicates PTI as a leaderless political entity. Additionally, the faction led by Pervez Khattak, known as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Parliamentarians, has been incorporated into the list.

A significant development took place earlier when PTI lost its electoral symbol, the ‘bat,’ following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) announcement of the reserved verdict on the party’s intra-party elections.

The ECP had initially reserved its decision after hearing arguments from all concerned parties. Subsequently, a five-member bench of the Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, declared PTI’s intra-party elections null and void.

As a consequence of the ECP’s verdict, Gohar Ali Khan, the newly elected PTI chairman who assumed the position after Imran Khan, will no longer hold the position of the party’s leader.

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Earlier, the deadline for filing of nomination papers for the National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies concluded on Sunday.

As per the schedule, scrutiny of the nomination papers will be carried out from tomorrow to the 30th of this month.

Appeals against the acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be submitted until the 3rd of January and decisions on these appeals will be made by the 10th of January.

The list of candidates will be displayed on the 11th of January, and candidates would have the option to withdraw until the 12th of January.

The electoral symbols will be allotted on the 13th of January, and polling for the general elections will be held the 8th of February.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan has given more time to foreign observers who want to monitor the general elections.

Now, they can submit their applications from December 31 to January 20.