Many legal loopholes in PTI intra-party polls

ISLAMABAD:

The PTI has managed to complete the process of its intra-party elections, but in its haste, it has failed to meet several legal requirements of the polls.

According to legal experts, Akbar S Babar, a PTI founding member who later developed differences with former party chief Imran Khan, has been given the best opportunity to challenge the polls because of the several flaws in the process.

As per the party’s rules, its national council was supposed to conduct the elections, but no formal meeting of the body was held.

No panel was formed before the intra-party elections.

Similarly, neither ballot papers were printed, nor nomination papers advertised.

Besides, no opportunity was provided to the party members for filing their objections over the papers. Most of all, every candidate was elected unopposed.

The nomination papers for the intra-party elections had to be submitted by 3pm on Friday.

When Babar went to the party secretariat to collect the nomination papers and voters list, he was told that the time for submitting the documents had expired.

However, the PTI’s election commission claimed that it had fulfilled all the necessary legal requirements of the intra-party polls and the process would be defended at every forum.

Read also: Barrister Gohar elected as PTI's new chairman

It added that after consulting with the PTI founder, nominations for other posts including the president would be made in the next two days.

PTI leaders Omar Ayub, Hammad Azhar, and Ali Amin Gandapur participated in the elections from an unidentified location.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Yasmin Rashid won the elections unopposed from jail.

The notifications of the newly elected officials will be issued by Monday (today).

Legal experts believe that because of the many legal flaws in the hurriedly-held elections, Babar's position in the judicial forum will be strengthened.

Babar has already announced that he would challenge the PTI’s intra-party elections, describing them as a “selection”.

Babar, who had filed the foreign funding case against the PTI, has rejected Imran’s nomination of Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as a candidate for the party chairman’s position.

In a statement, Babar said the nomination of the new PTI chairman had raised serious questions about the transparency and credibility of the entire intra-party election process.

He continued that a party, which championed transparency and a level playing field in the national elections, was shying away from allowing its workers an equal opportunity to elect its leadership without interference and manipulation.