ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has dissolved its election commission for indefinite period of time, also firing all the staff.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan signed a notification on Tuesday, after which the party’s election commission will be dissolved.
Media reports suggested that the new staff will be fielded before the party leadership reaches a decision on fresh intra-party elections, which are not in sight for last many years due to the infighting.
“We have postponed the intra-party elections for an indefinite time to focus on other priorities,” PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq had said earlier his year.
During past few months, the fight between two powerful and wealthy factions of Punjab over the presidency of the provincial chapter led to the deferment, leading to annulment, of the elections.
Another revision in schedule: PTI intra-party polls announced after Ramazan
As this clash was touching its zenith and had become open to a great embarrassment of the PTI, the Panama Papers disclosures cropped up, prompting Imran Khan to use these leaks as a convincing and plausible pretext to put off the elections saying “he would now exclusively concentrate on street protest to make Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accountable”.
Simultaneously, the PTI spokesman said, the party is engaged in a process of selecting its federal and provincial candidates to be fielded in the next general elections. Unlike before, he said, the PTI will now give a sufficient time to this exercise to make correct decisions.
Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed formally quits PTI
The PTI has no good experience of intra-party elections. Its first such exercise was marred with gross corruption and vote buying allegations as per the report of respected Justice (r) Wajihuddin, who held many top leaders of the party, all very close to Imran Khan, responsible for this sleazy dealing and recommended their expulsion from the party.
Scheduled in April-May earlier this year, the PTI’s intra-party election was not without abundant controversies. PTI Chief Election Commissioner Tasneem Noorani and two of his deputies stepped down under protest after Imran Khan did not accept their recommendations that direct election to all the tiers of the party from top to bottom should be held.
The party chief stood for such election only to a couple of selected positions, giving the newly elected office bearers authority to nominate others. After that Imran Khan nominated another party leader as the central election commissioner.
