Pakistan’s Supreme Court rejected a bid by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party to retain its traditional election symbol, the cricket bat, in the jailed leader’s latest setback ahead of the general election, the Guardian reported, citing News.ro.

Khan’s party, which is at loggerheads with powerful army generals, faces a crackdown by the military that has intensified ahead of the February 8 vote. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party claims the army is trying to keep it out of the election race, a charge the army denies.

A party’s election symbol on the ballot is important for voters to identify its candidates in this country, where most constituencies are rural with low literacy rates.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Kazi Faez Isa announced the decision during an evening live broadcast of the proceedings on the Supreme Court’s website.

Without this bat, PTI candidates will have to contest elections using separate symbols, which may confuse voters.

“This is by far the worst decision that has affected millions of voters,” the party said, while its president, lawyer Gohar Khan, announced that all its candidates would run as independents.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has withdrawn PTI’s symbol on the technical ground that it did not conduct internal elections, which is a prerequisite for any political party to participate in the national vote.

The party appealed this decision in the Supreme Court.

The election campaign, postponed since November, has been a low-stakes race in an uncertain political environment, with Khan, 71, in prison and unable to run.

His main rival and three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been cleared of all charges and banned for life, allowing him to contest the election. Analysts say he is the favorite because of military support, an advantage in a country where army generals define governments. The army says it is apolitical.

Imran Khan, removed from power by a vote of no confidence in April 2022, was sentenced on August 5, 2023 to three years in prison for corruption. He was immediately arrested and transferred to a prison in the city of Attock, about 60 kilometers from the capital, Islamabad. A few days later, the election commission banned him from participating in any election polls for five years for this reason.

At the age of 70, Khan was a great cricketer.