Elahi officially becomes PTI president

Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who recently joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was on Tuesday officially appointed as the party’s president.

“Ch Pervez Elahi is hereby, designated as President Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,” a notification bearing signature of PTI chief Imran Khan read.

The former Punjab CM expressed gratitude to the PTI chief for reposing trust in him.

“I will stand with Imran Khan in his fight for the supremacy of Constitution and law. It’s not possible for the government to block Imran’s way as he now lives in the hearts of people,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.

Last month, Elahi formally joined the PTI along with 10 former provincial assembly members, in a move not unexpected to the keen watchers of the prevailing political scene in Punjab.

Elahi’s announcement came after the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain sacked him as the party’s Punjab president and revoked his basic membership.

Addressing a joint news conference along with PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry, Elahi said he had always supported PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan during thick and thin.

“We stood firmly with Imran Khan and will continue to stand with him in the future. We have complete faith in his leadership and we’re thankful to him that he has given us this opportunity,” Elahi said.

Also read: PTI embraces Elahi, 10 ex-MPAs into party fold

The former MPAs, who joined the PTI included Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Shujaat Nawaz, Abdullah Warraich, Bao Rizwan, Sajid Bhatti, Ahsanul Haque, Mohammad Afzal, Basma Chaudhry and Khadija Umar Farooqui.

Elahi, 77, became the chief minister of Punjab for a second time with the support of the PTI, after he sided with Imran just before the PTI chief’s removal from the office of the prime minister through a no-confidence motion.

At that time, the PML-Q favoured the no-trust move. However, the PTI chief then nominated him for the post of the chief minister. He was elected to the post in July despite opposition from Chaudhry Shujaat.