ECP hearing on Intra party elections: PTI chairman defends party’s stance

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) recently conducted a hearing on the intra-party elections of the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Before the hearing started, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan while talking to the media said, “Inter-party election in our party was held per constitution and the law”.  

He said the ECP has yet to issue a certificate, PTI is the largest party in the country which furnished constitutional and legal responses to the ECP. Barrister Gohar further said the party hopes the papers taken from their office will be returned.

The hearing, chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja was attended by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar. The CEC informed the court that the case was pending since April 30, 2024, and PTI had not yet filed a written reply.

 To this, Barrister Gohar said that PTI had replied to the notice and would present the response to the petitions on the next hearing. The ECP adjourned the hearing until February 11 while ordering PTI to file the reply by then.

He told again after the hearing, in the same news conference: PTI is the only party that did intra-party election and also has its intra-party election certificate not being issued while PTI was the sixth biggest political party of the world.

Gohar further informed the court that out of the total five petitioners against PTI intra-party elections, the petitions were not  contested and they would reply at the next hearing to the ECP.

He said the PTI’s symbol is Imran Khan, who has written a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly for the appointment of a new Chief Election Commissioner.

Meanwhile, PTI founder Akbar S Babar also addressed a press conference saying that PTI accounts should be froze till the   decision of the case. He said that PTI’s organizational setup has no legal status and currently it is ruled by the infiltrators who  have no link with it.

Akbar S Babar further alleged that a coterie of vested interests has captured the PTI, and the judgment in the £190 million foreign funding case has brought many people into the limelight.