ISLAMABAD: Barrister Gohar Khan was declared the PTI chairman again following a fresh intra-party election, according to results shared by the party’s spokesperson and Chief Election Commissioner Raoof Hasan on Sunday.
Gohar won the chairman’s election unopposed, Hasan said during a media conference in Islamabad.
This is the third time PTI has conducted intraparty polls in the past two years, following its December 2 elections which resulted in its electoral ‘bat’ symbol ultimately being revoked by the Supreme Court of Pakistan following back-and-forth verdicts by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Peshawar High Court. Gohar was elected the PTI chief for the first time in the December 2 election.
Prior to that, the PTI held polls in June 2022, which the electoral watchdog had annulled on November 23, terming them “highly objectionable”.
Following the decision to schedule the new intra-party election on March 3, imprisoned PTI leader Imran Khan had nominated Barrister Ali Zafar for the position of chairman.
Days later, Zafar reportedly refused to accept the chairmanship, following which Imran Khan nominated Barrister Gohar again for the party’s top position.
At his press conference, Hasan announced that Gohar won the chairman’s post unopposed since there were no other candidates.
Four Applicants for PTI Chairmanship
He said that initially there were four applications for the position from Omar Ayub, Ashraf Jabbar, Naveed Anjum Khan and Barrister Gohar. Three applications were accepted, while that of Naveed was rejected.
Naveed’s application was rejected because he contested the February 8 general elections against a PTI-supported candidate, after which his party membership was cancelled on February 11, Raoof said.
He added that a second reason for the rejection was that despite Naveed applying for party membership again on February 24, a pre-condition to contesting intraparty polls is to have been an uninterrupted member for at least six months.
Jabbar and Ayub withdrew their applications for the sake of party unity and harmony, Hassan said.
He added that there were no candidates against Gohar, so he was declared the uncontested winner.
Meanwhile, Omar Ayub was elected PTI’s secretary general, also unopposed, since there were no other nominations for the slot, Hasan said.
