Pakistan: Election Commission to hear plea by PTI founding member

On December 18, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding member Akbar S. Babar will present his appeal against intra-party polls to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

According to a report by ARY News, a five-member court of the ECP will hear the appeal to resolve the objections and concerns expressed regarding PTI’s intra-party polling, according to ARY News. Notable individuals who submitted a protest against the PTI intra-party elections were Raja Tahir Nawaz, Naureen Farooq, and Akbar S. Babar.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan has been called before the ECP regarding the intra-party election matter. The party’s main election commissioner, Niazullah Niazi, Umar Ayub, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Yasmin Rashid, Ali Amin Gandapur, and Sardar Masroof of the RO central secretariat have also been summoned by the electoral watchdog.

Additionally, according to an ARY News source, notices have been sent to Returning Officers Sardar Masroof Khan of the Central Secretariat and Ansar Mahmood of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Central Secretariat.

The intra-party elections, according to Akbar S. Babar, are a drama. Babar claimed that PTI had put the party and its poll symbol, the bat, in jeopardy in a video statement. Notably, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been replaced as the new chairman of the PTI by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who was elected without opposition.

PTI intra-party votes were carried out on Saturday in accordance with the directives issued by ECP. According to ARY News, voters used an online app to participate in the election.

Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, nominated by the PTI founder a few days earlier, took up the top leadership role without opposition. Following his election as PTI chairman, Gohar stated in his statements that he will continue to carry out this duty on behalf of Imran. Dawn, a Pakistani news outlet, reported.

According to him, there are 175 political parties in Pakistan, and since 1960, each one has been giving the ECP information about its internal polls.

“However, none of these polls have been scrutinised as closely as those of the PTI.” “People are seeing this and will block the oppression,” he said.

(With agency inputs)