Pakistan

Party performance ‘disappoints’ Imran

Senior PTI leaders to convene session to deliberate strategy

Qamar Zaman December 07, 2015

The chairman (Imran Khan) is disappointed and concerned about the party’s performance. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD:

Still smarting from his party’s woeful showing in the third phase of local government polls that concluded on Saturday, a ‘disappointed’ Imran Khan convened an informal meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders on Sunday to review election results.

“The chairman (Imran Khan) is disappointed and concerned about the party’s performance (in the third round of polls),” a PTI official aware of discussions in the meeting told The Express Tribune.

Ruling party, PTI in a close tangle

Imran is reported to have asked the party’s key organisers at a meeting in Bani Gala to present their reports about the local government polls, according to the official.

During Sunday’s session, the chairman discussed the reasons behind PTI’s poor performance in Karachi and Rawalpindi—the latter is a constituency which Imran represents in the National Assembly.

According to unofficial results, PTI’s arch-rivals Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) swept the third phase of local government elections in Punjab, including Rawalpindi. The ruling party had already swept the previous two rounds in addition to gaining a strong position in the Islamabad Capital Territory.

In Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is leading the hotly contested elections in the metropolis ahead of rivals Pakistan Peoples Party. To boost its chances, Imran’s party had allied itself with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in the city, but fell well short. Such was the failure of PTI and JI in Karachi that their respective city chiefs, Ali Zaidi of PTI and Hafiz Naeemur Rehman of JI, lost their respective elections.

Ambition aplenty: PTI leaders eye vacant ministerial, adviser slots

Following Sunday’s informal session, the party is expected to convene a formal session of senior leaders on Monday [today] in which several other important decisions would be decided.

“It will be a consultative session with senior leaders of the party,” the official added.

Intra-party polls

The upcoming PTI intra-party election is one of the key topics that is expected to be discussed in Monday’s session.

According to a PTI official, the party is expected to finalise a date for the elections and name an interim setup which will conduct the polls.

The PTI had already dissolved its core committee and key party positions, replacing elected office bearers with organisers, after a report by its election tribunal headed by Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed.

LG officials demand constitutional power

The PTI official added that after the interim setup is announced, party organisers are expected to relinquish their posts in order for them to partake in the intra-party elections.

Further, the party is expected to embark on a six-month membership drive ahead of the elections.

NA session strategy

As the National Assembly reconvenes for a new session on Monday [today], senior leaders of PTI deliberated upon their strategy in parliament.

Among the issues discussed during Sunday’s meeting, party leaders deliberated moving away from their popular refrain of electoral fraud to issue-based politics. However, the party is not expected to abandon its longstanding demands regarding deficiencies in the electoral process, focussing on incompetence of the Election Commission and provincial election commissioners.

PTI shifts its focus to national issues

Having already established contact with the Pakistan Peoples Party, the PTI will be focussing its efforts on opposing the government’s recent move to impose Rs40 billion in new taxes and for the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (19)

bilal | 8 years ago | Reply MQM and PMLN trick worked. Make the first time voters so dis-allusion that they will never vote again... saying what is the point ! Pathetic critics here. This is what really explains why Pakistan continues to go in the gutter. Good and bad people, make the same decisions.

Ali S | 8 years ago | Reply @Asad: Any 'class' that has no interest in local bodies election is certainly not the 'educated class'. It's the only way to effectively govern densely populated urban areas and every major city in the world has it (even those in India). Local body elections are supposed to have a far more direct impact on the voter than national ones (which deal with macro issues) - so if PTI's 'educated class' is not interested in them, I think PTI has to reconsider what it defines as its 'educated class' (probably those who cry themselves hoarse singing praises of their Great Leader).

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MASOOM | 8 years ago | Reply still crying for rigging unable to realize with reasons for losing elections , A bad workman quarrel with his tools, the person who can not analyse a simple problem he has no right to be labelled as leader!

ali waqar | 8 years ago | Reply if PTI performing or working in KPK then it should be awareness campaign in media, might it will help for them in next elections 2018. peoples want see results overnight.

Malikpur Janderbari - Abbottabad | 8 years ago | Reply ...the leadership which was guided by Sh. Rashid, Mubashar Luqman, Tahir ul Qadri, Pervez Elahi, Jamshid Dasti, Haroon Rashid, Dr Danish ARY and some of other similar philosophers then results are 100% correct...and in 2018 Insaa Allah will be more accurate as per collective wisdom of these great leaders and philosophers..... keep up abusing others and non serious attitude. you deserve it!

Malikpur Janderbari - Abbottabad | 8 years ago | Reply Friends, I have been crying from last 2 years that PTI finished and I guaranteed that PTI leadership is losing and lost...most of the naunahal starts abusing me but my predictions came 100% true...and as I see above thread some of my friends still says that in 2018 PTI will win... I GUARANTEE you PTI even cannot win in KPK .... tout leadership which were used by "__".... don't forget Afghar khan Tahreek e istiklal.

Alter Ego | 8 years ago | Reply @Ahmed: Imran Khan Blaming your own weakness on others... Make KPK the envy of all other provinces and then the people of Punjab and Karachi will vote for you. Your politics of violence and needless agitation have lost some of your voter base especially from educated middle class . Your foul language doesn't help either.

Salman - SK | 8 years ago | Reply Pakistan needs a credible opposition party to keep the ruling party in check. Ruling parties in Pakistan have a tendency to be drunk uncontrollably when in power. PTI presented a popular alternative in the 2013 elections and came extremely close to being the majority party. IK needs to appoint a genuine committee to investigate what changed in the last two years; a committee not composed of "party organizers" but rather honest people like Justice Wajihuddin, likes of whom IK seems to have discarded lately. IK must have discovered that politics and statecraft is not cricket. PTI has done many good things and can do much more to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis in the future. Aligning with losers, like JI, will just make them more of a loser. The poor, the destitute, the hungry, and the dispossessed of Pakistan needs someone to voice their representation; no other party fulfilling that role presently. PTI has the propensity to fill this void if they change their ways. The only way to do that is to give a rock-solid performance in KPK to convince the electorate that they should be voted for in 2018.

Zohaib Ahsan | 8 years ago | Reply I see the half glass full. Its PTI first ever LB elections so not a bad performance. But what PTI can do is in those councils where they won, make them model councils and do something outside the box. In 2018 people would compare KPK and these councils from rest and give vote. So 2 years of hard work required!

PTI_Fan | 8 years ago | Reply Imran Khan overdid dharna politics. He should stop taking advice from Sheikh Rasheed.

Farru | 8 years ago | Reply Only disappointed? It had to happen. When you only love ridiculing the mandate of other parties, this happens.

Imran | 8 years ago | Reply PTI disappoints us....you cant ridicule public and demand vote in return

Truth hurts | 8 years ago | Reply @asad: The educated class magically disappears in the local bodies elections? You have a nice sense of humor!

Ahmed | 8 years ago | Reply The solution is simpler than PTI is willing to accept - show better performance in KPK than anywhere else in the country! People want to vote for PTI but cannot given that it is prioritizing bashing institutions and political parties instead of talking about its performance. Stop comparing and start delivering!

Asad | 8 years ago | Reply What about your own performance Mr. Khan? Enough of blame games now get back to work or you won't be seen even in KPK in the coming elections!

Shariq | 8 years ago | Reply @Asad: Your sir should get the highest civilian award for optimism!!! What logic!!! Brilliant.

Asad | 8 years ago | Reply The biggest issue for PTI was its voter not interested in Local Bodies Election. The biggest gain for PTI is that it has reached streets of small villages even. For me PTI has not lost, it has gained more. The voter of PMLN will only vote for PTI after PMLN's complete failure in 2018 and 2013 voter of PTI will vote again only in 2018 as its majority belongs to educated class and they don't have interest in Local Bodies election.

Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Actually it's Imran who is the disappointment for the electorate.

Old Ravian | 8 years ago | Reply I am disappointed, my dream of a new Pakistan has been shattered. PTI's politics of agitation and "electables" has let me down. With Imran's stubborn nature, there is little hope of revival. 2018 elections could be for PTI, what 2013 elections were for PPP.

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