ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party announced on Thursday it would hold fresh intraparty elections on Feb. 5, in line with the directives of Pakistan’s top court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Khan’s party suffered a major blow on Jan. 13 after the Supreme Court ruled it was not eligible to retain the “cricket bat” as its election symbol since it had failed to hold intraparty polls as per law. The decision means the party’s candidates will now contest national polls as independent candidates using different symbols.
The top court’s ruling also denied the party a share in the reserved seats for women and religious minorities in parliament which are distributed among political factions based on total seats won in the general elections.
A general body meeting of the party, attended by its top leadership, on Wednesday, decided to appoint PTI’s central information secretary, Raoof Hasan, as the chief election commissioner for the intraparty polls.
“Intra-party elections of Tehreek-e-Insaf will be held on Monday, February 5. Federal Election Commissioner of Tehreek-e-Insaf, Rauf Hassan, released the schedule of intra-party elections,” the PTI said in a statement on Thursday.
“All members registered till January 31, 2024 will be allowed to vote.”
The party said the details of all the panels participating in the intra-party elections will be available on the official website of the PTI.
“The polling time will be from 10 am to 4 p.m. on Monday, February 5,” it added.
Hasan told Arab News the party had decided to hold intraparty polls before the Feb. 8 elections as it wanted to “reclaim” its election symbol.
“After the submission of the intraparty elections, we can reclaim our symbol, which we understand they will not give to us because they are unfortunately acting on an agenda,” he said.
“We are going through the [intraparty polls] exercise again simply because we have been left with no other option,” Hasan said. “It is a right of every political party to have a symbol.”
Many believe the PTI's move to hold intraparty elections before the Feb. 8 national elections is aimed at retaining party candidates and subsequently claiming a share in reserved seats.
In a resolution passed during Wednesday’s meeting, the party leadership reposed their trust in Khan, saying he “will remain its leader, inspiration and guiding light during his lifetime.”
The party said even though its candidates would officially contest polls as independents due to the top court’s Jan. 13 verdict, they would remain affiliated with the party and would be bound by its policies and decisions.
The PTI made the announcement on the same day it suffered another major blow as Khan and his wife were sentenced to 14 years in jail.
The two were convicted in a case that relates to accusations Khan undervalued gifts from a state repository and gained profits from selling them while he held the country’s top office.
Khan says all cases against him are “politically motivated” and meant to end his political career amid a groundswell of popularity for the PTI since he was ousted from the PM’s office in April 2022 in a parliamentary no-trust vote.
The ex-premier alleges his removal was orchestrated by the country’s all-powerful military and his political rivals with the backing of Washington. All three deny the allegation.