The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced the results of its intra-party elections, with Barrister Gohar Ali Khan securing the chairmanship uncontested. The Central Information Secretary and Federal Election Commissioner of the party, Raoof Hassan, revealed the outcomes, stating that Omar Ayub has been appointed as the Central General Secretary, and Dr Yasmin Rashid has become the unopposed President of Punjab.
Additionally, Ali Amin Gandapur has emerged as the elected President of PTI for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), while Noorul Haq Qadri and Arbab Jahandad Khan have been elected as vice presidents for PTI in K-P.
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Gandapur’s victory was confirmed by the PTI K-P Election Commissioner, Qazi Anwar Advocate, who highlighted the absence of opposition as no other panel submitted nomination papers.
Other key appointments include Ali Asghar Khan as General Secretary, Irfan Saleem as Additional General Secretary, and Fakhar Zaman as Deputy General Secretary. Joint secretaries include Daniyal Khan Jadoon, Khaista Mehmood, and Taimoor Khalid.
Responding to inquiries regarding the electoral symbol “bat,” which was stripped from PTI by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Hassan clarified that the decision was based on a petition filed by founding member Akbar S Babar. He mentioned that Babar had not submitted any nominations for the intra-party elections but stated that his eligibility would be considered should he engage with the party.
Hassan reiterated that PTI had conducted its intra-party elections in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
During the intra-party elections, Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi and Aslam were contenders for the Chairman’s Panel. Qureshi announced his withdrawal in favor of Barrister Gohar, expressing confidence in his leadership. Aslam condemned the incidents of May 9 and February 9 and demanded transparency in the release of general election results.
The PTI held the intra-party elections after a prolonged battle following the stripping of its electoral symbol by the ECP. The elections were conducted in compliance with the Election Act, with the last elections held in June 2016 and the next due in June 2021. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the party requested a year’s extension, leading to elections being held on June 8, 2022, and December 2, 2023, both of which were challenged by the ECP. Following a Supreme Court decision affirming the ECP’s ruling, PTI candidates contested the 2024 elections as independents.
