Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday announced to hold fresh intra-party elections on March 3 (Sunday).
The PTI had earlier decided to hold party elections on February 5; however, it was later decided to postpone them until after elections.
Today, the party’s Federal Chief Election Commission issued a schedule for the intra-party elections which will now be held on March 3.
As per the schedule, the party’s chief election commissioner will issue its notice inviting nomination papers on February 22.
Party members will be able to file their nomination papers with the returning officers (RO) between 10 am to 3 pm on February 23 and 24.
The scrutiny of the nominations will be completed by 3 pm on Feb 25 while Feb 26 will be the deadline for filing appeals against the RO’s decision. The decisions on the appeals and the final list of panels/candidates will be issued by February 29.
Meanwhile, the last day for withdrawing candidates/panels and the issuance of a revised list of panels will be February 28.
The schedule said that intra-party elections would be held from 10 am to 3 pm on March 3, adding that polling would be held in the following places:
Islamabad: PTI Central office, St.32, G-8, Islamabad
Punjab: 197-XX, Street 6, Phase 3, DHA, Lahore
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Mehmaan-e-Khas Wedding Hall, GT Road, Opposite Gulbahar Police Station, Peshawar
Sindh: Insaf House, 16-B, Block 6, PECHS, Rashid Minhas Street, Karachi
Balochistan: PTI Provincial Secretariat, Main Chorangi, Shahbaz Town, Quetta
The party said the election results will be announced by 8 pm the same day while a notification will be issued on March 4.
Earlier today, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told media PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar would be a candidate for chairmanship in the party’s intra-party polls.
He noted that Omar Ayub would contest the polls for the position of the party secretary general.
“This is Khan sahib’s decision,” Gohar added.
Background
The PTI held intra-party polls on December 2, 2023, electing Barrister Gohar as the chairman of the party.
However, On December 22, the electoral body nullified the former ruling party’s intra-party elections, for the third time since last year, declaring the PTI ineligible for obtaining its traditional electoral symbol of ‘bat’.
PTI challenged ECP’s decision in the Peshawar High Court (PHC), which on January 10, set aside the electoral watchdog’s decision, and directed it to hand the PTI its electoral symbol back.
However, on January 13, a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarat Hilali set aside the impugned judgment of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) which restored the bat symbol to PTI.
Despite all the odds, PTI-backed independent candidates managed to win a large number of seats (92) in the February 8 polls.
On Wednesday, 89 MNAs, 85 members of the KP Assembly, 106 members of the Punjab Assembly and nine members of the Sindh Assembly submitted their affidavits to officially join the SIC.
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