ECP to hear plea against PTI’s intra-party elections tomorrow

Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to  heara plea filed by member Akbar S. Babar, who was ousted from the PTI, against the PTI’s intra-party elections on December 18 (tomorrow).

A five-member bench of the ECP will convene to address challenges and concerns raised regarding PTI's intra-party elections.

Among those filing applications against the PTI intra-party polls are Akbar S. Babar, Raja Tahir Nawaz, and Naureen Farooq. The ECP has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Gohar Ali Khan in connection with the intra-party election case.

The notices have also been issued to PTI's chief election commissioner Niazullah Niazi, Umar Ayub, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Yasmin Rashid, Ali Amin Gandapur, RO Central Secretariat Sardar Masroof, and Returning Officer Ansar Mahmood in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Central Secretariat.

Akbar S. Babar, PTI's founding member, criticized the intra-party polls as a drama, expressing concern that the party and its election symbol, the 'bat,' are at stake. Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was elected unopposed as the party's new chairman, succeeding the incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan.

The PTI intra-party polls, conducted last Saturday under ECP directives, saw voters exercising their right to vote through an online app. According to PTI election commissioner Niazullah Niazi, former federal minister Omar Ayub Khan was elected secretary-general of the party, and jailed former provincial health minister Yasmin Rashid became the party's Punjab president.