Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s beleaguered party will conduct fresh organisational elections in 15 days, following the intra-party polls’ postponement earlier this month, a media report said on Wednesday.
The 71-year-old former-cricketer-turned-politician’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party postponed the scheduled intra-party polls earlier this month, asserting that it could “divert” attention from the February 8 general elections.
Quoting sources, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has been nominated as the chairman while Raoof Hassan will be the Chief Election Commissioner for PTI’s intra-party polls, which will be conducted in 15 days.
The organisational polls will be conducted simultaneously across the country, the report said.
The PTI held an intra-party poll last year on the directions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which saw Gohar Khan’s election as the party chairman. However, its result, which some disgruntled PTI workers challenged, was annulled after a bitter court battle. Subsequently, the top electoral body deprived the party of its iconic cricket bat symbol.
Independents backed by the PTI won majority seats at the National Assembly in the February 8 general election.
However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government which may effectively end Khan’s chances of returning to power.
PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif has been nominated as the prime minister candidate, while PPP’s Asif Ali Zardari is for the president’s office. The PPP said it would not join the federal cabinet, but the Senate chairman would be that of the PPP.
The PTI on Wednesday rejected the attempts by two of its arch-rivals to form a coalition government, warning that robbing its public endorsement by the “mandate thieves” will result in the worst political instability.
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