ISLAMABAD: Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub Khan were elected as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and secretary general unopposed, respectively, as the party on Sunday declared the results of its intra-party elections.
Addressing a news conference, the PTI Federal Election Commissioner Raoof Hasan said that PTI’s Sindh, Punjab, and KP elections commissioners would formally announce the results of the provincial presidents, while election for the slot of Balochistan President was underway.
He said the PTI intra-party elections were held for the third time as per the guidelines set by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Ashraf Jabbar and Muhammad Aslam, who voluntarily withdrew their nomination papers as candidates for the slot of PTI Chairman, as well as Returning Officers for conducting the Chairman and Secretary General elections, Ayesha Khalid and Amina Ali were also present on the occasion.
During the press conference, he announced that Barrister Gohar Khan had been elected the PTI chairman unopposed, while Omar Ayub secured the position of PTI general secretary uncontested.
Raoof Hasan said that Gohar Ali Khan was elected PTI chairman unopposed after three other candidates withdrew their nomination, adding that the panel of Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub was nominated by the PTI founder.
PTI Election Commissioner said that four candidates filed their nominations papers for the slot of Chairman PTI of which nomination papers of three candidates were accepted and one were rejected.
He thanked Ashraf Jabbar and Dr Muhammad Aslam, who were constants for Chairman penal but they voluntarily withdrew their nomination papers in favour of Barrister Gohar for the interest of the party’s harmony and unity.
Raoof Hasan said that Naveed Anjum Khan’s nomination papers were rejected because he contested general elections 2024 as an opponent of PTI’s supported candidate and therefore, his party membership was cancelled by District President on February 11, 2024.
“As per PTI’s constitution, in order to be eligible to contest for intra-party elections, it is mandatory to have uninterrupted 6 months PTI’s membership; however, he got himself registered again as PTI member on February 24, 2024 to contest the intra-party elections,” he added.
“Therefore, after the voluntarily withdrawal of the two contestants, there was no candidate in the field against Gohar; hence we have declared him the uncontested winner for the position of the party chairman,” Raoof announced. Speaking on the occasion, Ashraf Jabbar congratulated PTI Federal Election Commissioner and the entire team for successfully and transparently conducting the intra-party elections.
“I am a founding member of PTI and he voluntarily withdrew his nomination papers in favour of Barrister Gohar because he was the nominee of PTI Chairman-for-life Imran Khan and performed will during his precious tenure as chairman PTI,” he added.
However, Ashraf Jabbar stressed the need that the PTI and the nation’s first demand from Barrister Gohar after getting elected as Chairman PTI was to leave no stone unturned to ensure the release of Imran Khan at the earliest.
Talking on the occasion, Dr Muhammad Aslam, who was also the founding member of the party, said that he withdrew his nomination papers because it was high time and they needed to work like a unit to deal with the prevailing challenges.
He said that around 90 per cent of representatives of the “fake government” reached the parliament through results tampering which was unacceptable and condemnable.
He demanded that the elections results should be announced as per the Form 45s and the people should be given their stolen mandate back forthwith.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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