Dawn, Peshawar
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) on Saturday elected Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the new chairman in the intra-party elections held on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Gohar won the chairman’s position unopposed.
Barrister Gohar, who was nominated by ex-PTI chief Imran Khan for the top slot a couple of days ago, submitted his nomination papers for the office of the party’s chairman.
Speaking in Peshawar after his election as chairman, Gohar said he will keep fulfilling this responsibility as Imran’s representative.
He said that Pakistan has 175 political parties, all of which have been providing details of their intra-party polls to the ECP since 1960. “However, none of these polls have been scrutinised as closely as those of the PTI.”
“People are seeing this and will block the oppression,” he said. “We have to take the country forward.”
He further added that PTI’s purpose is to struggle, and that Imran is in jail because of his efforts.
“When elections take place, we will defeat everyone,” Gohar said.
Omer Ayub Khan was elected as the party secretary-general — also unopposed. Provincially, Munir Ahmed Baloch was elected as the party president of Balochistan; Haleem Adil Sheikh of Sindh; Ali Amin Gandapur of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Dr Yasmin Rashid as the party’s Punjab president.
Meanwhile, PML-N termed it a “selection, not an election”.