Gohar elected PTI chairman unopposed

Party announces results of its internal polls

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday announced the results of its internal elections with Barrister Gohar Ali Khan clinching the chairmanship of the party uncontested.

Raoof Hasan, the PTI’s information secretary who was also serving as its federal election commissioner, while unveiling the results during a press briefing in Lahore said Omar Ayub had secured the role of the party’s central general secretary and Dr Yasmin Rashid elected as its Punjab president unopposed.

He added that Ali Amin Gandapur had bagged the slot of the PTI Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa president while Noorul Haq Qadri and Arbab Jahandad Khan had secured their place as the party’s vice presidents in the province.

PTI K-P election commissioner Qazi Anwar Advocate announced the notification of Gandapur’s victory.
He said Gandapur's panel had emerged victorious without any opposition as no other had submitted their nomination papers.

Read more: Gohar, Ayub win PTI top slots unopposed

In other results, Ali Asghar Khan and Irfan Saleem have assumed the responsibilities of the general secretary and additional general secretary respectively, while Fakhar Zaman has been elected as the deputy general secretary.

Daniyal Khan Jadoon, Khaista Mehmood, and Taimoor Khalid have been elected as joint secretaries.
On December 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided to strip the PTI of its popular electoral symbol of the 'cricket bat', prompted by a petition filed by the party’s estranged founding member Akbar S Babar challenging the adherence of the internal elections to the established rules.

In response to the queries, PTI's Federal Election Commissioner Hasan clarified that Babar had not submitted any nominations for the intra-party elections.

Also read: PTI’s Omar Ayub terms PM’s election ‘illegal’

He added that Babar's eligibility would be considered should he choose to engage with the party.
Hasan underscored that the PTI had conducted its intra-party elections in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court.

Other contestants for the chairman’s slot, Ashraf Jabbar Qureshi and Aslam, were also present on the occasion.

Qureshi informed the media of his status as a founding member of the party and his decision to withdraw in favour of Gohar.

He expressed his belief in the PTI’s continued struggle under Gohar's leadership for the early release of the party’s founding chairman and former premier, Imran Khan, from jail.

The other contestant, Aslam, highlighted his founding member status and condemned the last year’s May 9 violence and alleged polls rigging on February 9, 2024.

He claimed that those responsible for the May 9 mayhem were also to blame for the February 8 polls rigging. He demanded that the general election results should be released as per Form 45.