The first phase of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s intra-party elections has been completed, the party’s chief election commissioner, Hamid Khan, announced on Monday at a press conference in Lahore.
Khan said the elections in Islamabad had a 51 % turnout, which is ‘the biggest in the history of Pakistan’, even compared to general elections turnouts.
He added that the polling process for Khyber-Pakthunkhwa (K-P) is to start from today (Tuesday), in which voter lists will be displayed on the party website for verification by the provincial election commissioner and members.
Nationwide polling is to be completed by January 15, and will include the selection of all party slots, including party chairperson. Five out of seven million members are expected to vote, Khan said. The commissioner was accompanied by Shafqat Mehmood as well as other PTI officials.
In Islamabad, around 500 office-bearers in 40 union councils (UCs) were elected. The UCs will in turn be used as an electoral college to elect tehsil, district, and regional leadership.
Intra-party elections in K-P will be completed from December 9 to 19 whereas the election process in Punjab will start on December 1 and continue till December 31, Khan said. Elections for Sindh and Balochistan will be held after this.
Commenting on technical faults in software prepared for intra-party elections, Khan alleged that each voter was allotted a code which was blocked by Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL) on election day, after which the PTI technical team allotted substitute codes to all voters.
The party has already completed intra-party elections in USA and UK where turnout was recorded at 52 percent, Khan added.
Meanwhile, the PTI information secretary suggested that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) use similar technology for the general elections, saying it was more safe and transparent.
“I personally foresee that after 20 years, the election process will be shifted on SMS and code words like the ones used by PTI for intra-party elections,” Mehmood added.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2012.
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