ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Saturday chose a new party chairman, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who was nominated by Imran Khan to contest for the top slot.
PTI’s Chief Election Commissioner Niazullah Niazi announced the results, saying Barrister Gohar was elected unopposed following the intra-party election held today.
Niazi said Omar Ayub Khan has been elected PTI’s central general secretary while Ali Amin Gandapur and Dr Yasmin Rashid were chosen as the party’s provincial presidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, respectively.
The development came in line with the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) directives following which the party conducted its intra-party polls today.
Speaking with journalists in Peshawar, Barrister Gohar said that he will take on the responsibilities of the chairman as Imran Khan’s representative.
“We will take the country forward but as long as I am here, I will (act as) Imran Khan’s representative who is in jail because of his principled struggle. PTI will not fight anyone,” he said.
He lamented that none of the political parties “faced this sort of elections” like PTI did, adding that the court did not look into other parties’ receiving foreign funding.
The newly-elected chairman complained that the party leadership faced many cases and could not get the relief it wanted from the courts.
“Till now, many of the party leaders are underground or in jails,” he added.
PTI intra-party polls hold immense importance in the country’s current political climate as the party’s Chairman Imran Khan, for the first time since PTI’s inception, decided to hand over the chairmanship to Barrister Gohar, who will be holding the party reigns until the Khan’s release from jail.
Earlier this week, PTI member and senior lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar announced Gohar’s name as the party’s chair, adding that his position is temporary, as Khan would return as chairman once his disqualification in the wake of the Toshakhana case is overturned.
Barrister Gohar’s nomination as party chair became a controversial subject within the PTI when his name was revealed by PTI’s lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat earlier this week.
The central polling centre was set up in Peshawar’s Rano Garhi near the Motorway Toll Plaza where its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Presiding Officer Ali Zaman and CEC were present.
