Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has said that after learning from past experiences, the PTI has decided to hold direct intra-party elections.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, he said that making decisions about power centers in the party is not the election commissioner’s job.
“We believe election commissioner’s job is to hold the elections in a free and fair manner,” he said.
Talking about the internal democracy of his party, Khan said that only through intra-party elections Tehreek-e-Insaf can become an institution. He said that the party has learnt from its mistakes and in order to avoid divisions, it was not going to opt for a penal system. He said that Justice (r) Wajihuddin dissolved the elections after hearing five to six petitions. He said Justice (r) Wajihuddin’s decision was accepted by the party.
While referring to his party’s former chief election commissioner Tasneem Noorani, Khan said that Noorani favoured the idea of votes being cast through cell phone as opposed to the conventional method of using a voting paper. He added that it is not possible to conduct such massive elections on mobile phones as there will be technical glitches in the process.
He said that the party formed a new Election Commission under the leadership of Noorani and was of the view that Noorani’s only task was to conduct the elections.
The PTI chief said that his party adopted the model of the United Kingdom and the United States in order to conduct elections within the party. He added that the party comprises 2 million members as of now and that the final date to get membership is April 15. He said the party’s elections will be held on a single day.
