Former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi appointed as ex-PM Khan’s party president

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan on Tuesday appointed Chaudhary Parvez Elahi as president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in culmination of a series of political developments in which the latter sided with the PTI chief.
Elahi, who was previously among the top Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders, remained Khan’s coalition partner in the province since the last elections. The former prime minister nominated him as Punjab chief minister after being driven out of power at the center in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last April.
Khan also started agitating for snap polls in the country after the fall of his administration and ultimately announced to dissolve the legislative bodies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, where his party was in a power, to build pressure on the government to hold national elections.
Elahi complied with his instructions by sending a summary to the governor, seeking the dissolution of the assembly.
“Ch Pervez Illahi is hereby, designated as President Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,” Khan wrote in a brief notification issued on his party’s letterhead which he signed in his capacity as the PTI chairman.
Prior to that, Elahi formally joined the party on February 21.
The party senior vice president Chaudhary Fawad Hussain made the announcement while praising the former Punjab chief minister for remaining loyal to Khan “through thick and thin.”
Hussain also told journalists that Elahi would be appointed as PTI president, adding the decision had been made and approved by the senior party leadership.