During the recently held intra-party elections in December, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan emerged as the new chairman of the PTI. The elections were conducted under the directives of the electoral body. Interestingly, Gohar Ali Khan was nominated by Imran Khan, the founding chairman of PTI, who is currently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.
At the onset of today’s hearing, PTI counsel Barrister Ali Zafar argued that intra-party elections were unnecessary when the chairman is elected unopposed, as the chairman’s tenure is five years while the panel’s duration is three years. However, a member of the ECP pointed out that the law clearly states the need to hold elections in accordance with established regulations. Although the party’s constitution provides guidelines for conducting intra-party polls, the Elections Act does not specify the criteria for membership.
Barrister Zafar cited a previous ECP verdict from February 22, stating that only party members can cast votes in party elections. He also mentioned that the election schedule was publicly displayed outside all PTI offices. Zafar emphasized that PTI had a vast number of voters, exceeding 0.83 million, and apart from a few individuals, no one approached the ECP with concerns. He also highlighted that PTI was the only party with its records accessible online.
Countering the ECP’s argument, the PTI counsel pointed out that none of the petitioners, except Akbar S Babar, had submitted fees to the party, thereby questioning their status as party members. Zafar further emphasized that only party members were eligible to challenge PTI’s intra-party polls and questioned whether the party had violated the Election Act.
Babar, a PTI founding member who had disagreements with the party’s leadership, challenged the intra-party polls in a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner. He requested that PTI should not be allowed to use the ‘cricket bat’ as its electoral symbol until it held transparent intra-party polls and urged the commission to appoint an independent third-party monitor for the fresh polls.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the ECP reserved its verdict on the pleas challenging the PTI’s intra-party elections. The PTI’s Chief Election Commissioner, Niazullah Niazi, had previously submitted the report on the intra-party election results to the ECP, encompassing the PTI’s central and provincial organizations.
