PTI’s intra-party election body head quits

Senato­r Nouman Wazir report­edly appoin­ted as acting electi­on commis­sioner­

ISLAMABAD:

The man who was to supervise the upcoming intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stepped down on Saturday after developing differences with party chairman Imran Khan.

According to insiders, the resignation of PTI’s chief election commissioner (CEC) Tasneem Noorani came during a meeting of the party’s bigwigs which was convened to discuss his termination.

Officially, the party confirmed that Noorani and some other members of PTI’s election commission have resigned, but it did not say why.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Noorani was pushing for elections on every single office of the party. He has called nomination of party’s office-bearers ‘undemocratic’. Conversely, Imran believed only one seat of every tier should be elected, while the rest of the office-bearers should be nominated.

“A deadlock emerged three months ago, and efforts to break it failed,” a senior party official said, adding that a meeting between Noorani and Imran on Friday also did not produce a breakthrough.

It was because of the deadlock that the party could not define organisational structure for the intra-party elections. Imran also formed a seven-member committee to come up with a plan, but it was delaying the crucial decision.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Imran and Noorani recently spoke by the phone where the PTI chief refused to budge on his stance.

Subsequently, the party convened an unannounced meeting of senior leaders to decide Noorani’s fate. “They were about to announce Noorani’s removal, but somehow he got the news and made his resignation public,” an insider said.

Interestingly, Noorani was informed through a text message by someone who was privy to the development, sources added.

Meanwhile, an official statement issued by the party after the meeting said the PTI chairman and senior leadership accepted the resignation of the CEC and some election commissioners with regret.

However, they resolutely decided the intra-party elections would be held on schedule in May. Senator Noman Wazir, a member of PTI’s election commission will be the interim CEC and the vacant positions will be filled by March 31, the statement added.

The chairman and the party have always respected the jurisdiction of the election commission, and refrained from intervening in their domain, the statement said, adding that any interaction with the EC was with the intent of strengthening the institution of the election commission.

It also gave a message to the next CEC by stating: “The party is clear that it is its prerogative to decide what type of election will be held.”


Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2016.