February 1, 2024: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has shared its plan for holding elections within the party. They disclosed the schedule on February 1st. This decision comes after a series of events that started with the party’s previous internal elections on December 3, 2023.
The earlier intra-party elections were conducted following Imran Khan’s disqualification from the chairmanship. Barrister Gohar was elected as the party chairman during that time. However, some members raised concerns about the fairness of the elections. They took the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Surprisingly, the ECP rejected the election results and even took away PTI’s party symbol, the “Cricket bat.” PTI didn’t agree with this decision and challenged it in the Peshawar High Court. The Peshawar High Court initially reversed the ECP’s decision, but the ECP wasn’t satisfied with this outcome.
Things took another turn when the ECP challenged the Peshawar High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court. On January 13, 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the Peshawar High Court’s decision, declaring the intra-party elections null and void. This left PTI in a situation where they are participating in the upcoming general elections without their traditional party symbol, the “Cricket bat.” All PTI candidates are now running as independent candidates.
In light of these circumstances, PTI has now decided to conduct fresh intra-party elections on February 5, 2024. According to PTI officials, candidates can submit their nomination papers until February 2nd at 10:00 PM. The polling is scheduled to take place from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM on February 5th, 2024.
