PTI’s intra-party polls challenged again

PTI founding member Babar questions unopposed election of current PTI leadership

The intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have come under scrutiny once again as two petitions were filed at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday for their nullification, Express News reported.

Akbar S Babar, a founding member of the party, alongside two other PTI members, lodged petitions urging for an investigation into alleged irregularities.

Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan and PPP's Muhammad Muzammil submitted one petition, while Babar presented another, both seeking nullification of PTI's intra-party elections.

Speaking outside the ECP office, Babar expressed his disappointment, stating, "Today, we once again appeared before the ECP. It saddens me to say that we have come to file a petition against the fresh fraud committed by PTI. We had hoped that this party would give its workers their due rights. What they cry foul about regarding electoral malpractice in general elections, they do not extend the same rights to their workers. If they had given their workers their rights in the party elections, their mandate would have been accepted."

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Babar also addressed his absence from the party elections, saying, "I have been asked why I did not participate in the party elections. I had announced in a press conference that the PTI chairman should declare his lawyer, and we will do the same. We organised a seminar on January 25, where we proposed this, but I was kept away from the intra-party election."

Referring to a press release by PTI announcing his departure from the party, Babar contested the decision, stating, "The Supreme Court has declared me a party member. Today, I have submitted a petition for action against them because they do not allow the party leadership to reach the workers."

Questioning the unopposed election of the current PTI leadership, Babar highlighted discrepancies, stating, "They wrote to the Supreme Court that we have 800,000 votes in our party, but in the elections, only 940 members cast their votes."