- Akbar S. Babar says to challenge intra-party polls in ECP
- Omer Ayub elected as SG, Haleem Adil Sh, Gandapur, Yasmin Rashid retain seats
ISLAMABAD: Newly elected PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan has urged the Supreme Court to get the party’s rights back.
Talking to the media after being elected the party chief on Saturday morning, the lawyer also requested the chief justice of Pakistan not to return his official vehicles.
He further said that the people’s voices should be heard, adding that this time they would be. He added that he would fulfil his responsibilities as the successor of the PTI founder.
پی ٹی آئی کیساتھ عوامی طاقت ہے اسے کوئی نہیں ہرا سکتا، جس دن الیکشن ہوا مخالفین کی ضمانتیں ضبط ہوں گی- عمران خان چیئرمین تھے عمران خان چیئرمین ہیں اور انشاءاللہ عمران خان تاحیات چیئرمین رہیں گے – @BarristerGohar #اب_صرف_عمران_خان pic.twitter.com/G6BCrCBnNB
— PTI (@PTIofficial) December 2, 2023
Since 1960, no election has been scrutinised as much as the PTI’s, Khan maintained.
He also reminded everyone that the Supreme Court had ordered to investigate the foreign funding of all political parties, while only the PTI’s were probed.
Unopposed election as new PTI chairman
Earlier, the PTI on Saturday elected Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the new chairman in the intra-party elections held on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Gohar won the chairman’s position unopposed.
Barrister Gohar Khan visited PTI Central Office after his election as the Chairman of the party. He was warmly greeted by the Central Information Secretary and the staff. Prayers were offered for the welfare of Pakistan and the party. pic.twitter.com/rnoV3lt7Ax
— Raoof Hasan (@RaoofHasan) December 2, 2023
Barrister Gohar, who was nominated by ex-PTI chief Imran Khan for the top slot a couple of days ago, submitted his nomination papers for the office of the party’s chairman.
Omer Ayub Khan was elected as the party secretary-general — also unopposed. Provincially, Munir Ahmed Baloch was elected as the party president of Balochistan; Haleem Adil Sheikh of Sindh; Ali Amin Gandapur of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Dr Yasmin Rashid as the party’s Punjab president.
2012 intra-party elections were transparent
Reacting to Barrister Gohar’s election as the PTI chairman, former party leader Pervaiz Khattak said the 2012 intra-party elections were correct as opposed to the ones just conducted. He also questioned the poll, saying there were no voters and no one was given an opportunity to contest. He called the election an eyewash.
“If such dictation continues, how will there be democracy?” he questioned.
Khattak further claimed that previously, sham elections were also held on fake documents and asked the election commission to take action against the PTI’s intra-party poll.
Akbar S Babar rejects Gohar’s election
Akbar S. Babar, one of the founding members of PTI, had rejected the nomination of Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as a candidate for the party chairman’s slot, calling it “selection instead of an election”.
In a press statement, Babar, who had filed the foreign funding case against the PTI, said the nomination of the new PTI chairman had raised serious questions about the transparency and credibility of the entire PTI intra-party election process.
He said that a party that champions transparency and a level playing field in the national elections was shying away from allowing its workers a level playing field to elect its leadership without interference and manipulation.
He said he would challenge the decision of the intra-party election, and also asked the Supreme Court to take notice.
He denied the PTI chief election commissioner’s claims that he didn’t appear to file his nomination, saying he went to the PTI central secretariat in Islamabad himself with his associates. He said that when he asked the party representatives for nomination papers and voters list, they said they didn’t exist and that the whole exercise was mere formality to please the election commission.
Meanwhile, PTI Election Commissioner Niazullah Niazi has said that a notification for the rest of the office-bearers would be issued on Sunday. He further said the PTI president will also be elected as per the Constitution.
He added that incumbent president, Pervaiz Elahi, was still part of a panel and had not been excluded from the poll. He also said that the party respected the institutions.
Visit to PTI Central Secretariat
Meanwhile, newly-elected Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Barrister Gohar Ali Khan visited the party’s Central Secretariat here on Saturday.
PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hassan welcomed the PTI Chairman upon his arrival at the Secretariat and expressed best wishes for him.
PTI Chief Election Commissioner Niazullah Niazi was also present on the occasion.
All the party leaders thanked Allah for the successful conduct of the intra-party elections
On the occasion, they also offered a special pray for the safety, security, development and prosperity of the country.
It’s ‘selection, not an election’
Meanwhile, PML-N termed it a “selection, not an election”.
In a press conference in Rawalpindi, party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said: “Once again, the PTI has been involved in a selection all in 15 minutes.”
Questioning how all the candidates were elected unopposed, she said: “PTI’s intra-party elections were done in secrecy.”
“There was a massive rigging in PTI’s intra-party elections today,” said Marriyum Aurangzeb. The PML-N leader said that the results of the intra-party elections were announced right after 15 minutes of the elections.
She said the PML-N conducted Intra-party elections just one and half month ago and it was all live. She stated that the Intra-party elections of the PTI were held at some undisclosed place. “How can PTI demand now the free and fair elections?,” she asked. She stated that the PTI was brought into power by failing the RTS system. Marriyum said that the PTI was not familiar with the true elections.
She alleged that the PTI wanted chaos and anarchy in the country, and they (PTI) could not make nation and the ECP fool by such intra party elections. The PML-N leader demanded the ECP to take notice of the Intra party is elections of the PTI.
ECP annulled the PTI’s intra-party polls
The ECP had on Nov 23 annulled the PTI’s intra-party polls held in June last year, terming them “highly objectionable”.
The order came at a time when general elections are about two months away and political parties are ratcheting up their poll campaigns across the country.
The PTI, however, has complained about an uneven playing field and termed the ECP’s ruling an attempt to keep Imran and his party away from polls.
A PTI leader told on condition of anonymity that the decision to appoint Gohar, who is an associate of PPP leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, was not a wise move due to his proximity to the PPP stalwart.
But in a statement on Friday, a PTI spokesperson said the party’s decision to hold intra-party elections on the ECP’s directives was a clear sign of the party’s unshakable commitment to democracy and unwavering belief in the rule of law.
The statement said that PTI had also held intra-party elections last year according to the law. However, he added, in order to set a great example of respect for law, the party decided to hold the intra-party elections again despite the “illegal decision” of the electoral watchdog, declaring the last year’s polls null and void.
