Cantt Board polls: Internal rifts affected PTI performance, says Ejaz Chaudhry

Party performance to be reviewed at core committee meeting.

LAHORE: Internal rifts and lack of communication between party workers and voters affected the outcome of the cantonment board elections in Lahore, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Punjab president Ejaz Chaudhry said on Monday.

The party won five out of 20 seats from Lahore.

Addressing a press conference at the PTI Punjab secretariat, Chaudhry said the party’s performance in the cantonment board elections in Lahore and Rawalpindi would be reviewed during the core committee meeting scheduled to take place in Islamabad on Wednesday.



“I am unable to give the exact reason (for the PTI performance in the cantonment board elections) at this stage. A review of the election process will help us establish the reasons,” he said.

He blamed poor arrangements for the cantonment board elections for a low turnout.

“Incomplete voters’ lists and the polling scheme prevented some of the voters from coming out on Saturday. The PTI had fought a legal battle in the Punjab to ensure that the cantonment board elections take place on party basis,” he said.

He said that the PTI had increased its vote bank. “The vote bank of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) has decreased. The PTI has emerged as a national party. The PML-N is confined to the Punjab. Most of the seats it has won are in the Punjab,” he said.

He said that the PML-N’s performance was disappointing considering that it had spent billions of rupees on development projects ahead of the elections.

“In Gujranwala, Multan and Sialkot, PML-N tried to influence the results through a recount,” he said.

“The victory of a PTI candidate from the home constituency of Minister for Water and Power and Defence Khawaja Asif is a reflection of the level of distrust people have in the government,” he said.

He said the PTI had backed several independent candidates in Multan, Shorkot and Sargodha, who had won. “The party will prepare better for the upcoming local government elections.

The candidates will be selected at the local level,” he said.

Chaudhry said that Federal Ministers Khwaja Saad Rafique and Pervaiz Rasheed should not try to mislead the people.

He also expressed sorrow at the loss of life due to torrential rains in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday. He said the PTI government was providing relief and medial treatment to the affected people.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2015.