ISLAMABAD: Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has filed his nomination papers for the chairmanship of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ahead of internal polls after Barrister Ali Zafar withdrew from the race for the party chief citing “conflict of interest” due to his role as a legal representative Imran Khan on various occasions.
If elected, it would be Gohar’s second term as PTI chief as he was earlier PTI chairman in the internal party polls held on 2 December 2023.
The development comes after the party last week announced fresh intra-party elections on March 3 after the Supreme Court granted a plea by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to uphold its decision declaring PTI’s intra-party elections invalid due to administrative irregularities related to does not comply with its own constitution and the provisions of the 2017 Electoral Act and 2017 Electoral Rules.
According to the election schedule issued by the party’s Federal Election Commissioner Raoof Hasan, the deadline for candidates who were going to participate in the internal polls was February 25 (Sunday).
Meanwhile, the final decision on nomination papers will be announced on February 27 and voting will be held on March 3 at the PTI headquarters and provincial secretariats as part of the party’s bid to qualify for the election symbol.
While Gohar submitted his nomination papers for the top post in the party, the nomination papers of the 15-member panel headed by the Central Organization’s Central General Secretary Omar Ayub Khan were also submitted.
Meanwhile, Ashraf Qureshi from Sindh, Muhammad Aslam from Balochistan and Naveed Anjum from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have also filed their nomination papers for the post of chairman.
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Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Muhammad Khan Madni and Asad Hanif have also submitted proposals for appointment to the panels of the party organization Punjab.
Similarly, the nomination papers of two panels headed by Haleem Adil Sheikh and Bakhsh Ghulam Muhammad, nominated by the founding chairman, were accepted for the organization of the Sindh party.
Balochistan founder chairman candidate Dr Munir Baloch and five others submitted their nomination papers along with their panels.
Syed Jafar Agha, Nawabzada Aminullah Jogizai, Dawood Shah, Syed Abdul Sadiq and Babar Murghzani filed their nomination papers along with their panels for the Balochistan chapter of the party.
The nomination papers of the panel headed by Ali Amin Gandapur, who was nominated by the founder chairman from KP, were also received.
Gandapur is one of the few senior PTI members who has not joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) recently.
The party’s Election Commission appointed separate returning officers at the Center and in the provinces who received nomination papers from candidates seeking to contest internal party elections.
