Intra-party elections: Polls body ex-chief tried to snatch my rights, says Imran

Laments he is blamed for advising team ahead of its clash with India

ISLAMABAD:

Announcing that PTI’s intra-party elections will be held by the end of May, Imran Khan on Friday said the former chief of PTI’s intra-party election commission, Tasnim Noorani, tried to snatch his rights. “The commission snatched rights of the chairman, which was not right as the commission’s job is limited to holding transparent elections,” Imran said at a news conference on Friday.

“Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed had given me these rights after completing the investigation and ultimately it was not the tribunal but the chairman who dissolves the cabinet,” he said.

Imran Khan also announced that at the intra-party polls all office bearers would be elected directly and that the elections will be held by the end of May and there will be no delay.

He said when there would be no electoral college, no one could use money to manipulate the elections. “So we have decided to hold direct election,” he added.

Imran said the commission was hell bent on holding elections according to its wishes and wanted to hold elections for every single position. However, he said, the party had decided to hold one election for every position.

About voting through mobile phones, he said it could not be implemented as there were some technical faults, due to which Tasnim Noorani tendered resignation as he had no solution for it. The PTI chairman said the membership drive of the party had been extended till April 15.

 T20 controversy

Imran lamented that he was being blamed for advising the national team ahead of its March 20 clash with India at the World T20 match in Kolkata.

Calling people at the helm responsible for the defeats in Asia Cup and World T20 competitions, Imran said with the presence of people like Najam Sethi and Shaharyar Khan, Pakistan could not hope to win in cricketing contests.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2016.