Two PTI panels set to partake in intraparty polls on June 11

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Two panels are all set to contest for upcoming intraparty elections of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on June 11 as the chief election commissioner has approved both the panels.

However, many voices of dissent are emerging from within the PTI ranks terming the intraparty polls ‘dummy, shame and unconstitutional elections.

A notification issued by PTI chief election commissioner Azam Khan Swati, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, says that Insaf Panel and Ehtisab Panel are going to contest for top slots of the party.

Insaf Panel is led by Imran Khan while Ehtisab Panel is led by Naik Mohammad Khan. Naik Mohammad Khan is one of the PTI founding members and hails from Malakand Division. His son had contested 2013 election from PTI but lost.

“I have received nomination papers of two complete panels. I have also scrutinized the documents, memberships and found their standing in complete harmony and parameters of the relevant provision of the Constitution of Pakistan as well as the amended and approved constitution of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Therefore, I hereby declare these two panels eligible to contest intraparty election, 2017’.

In an exclusive talk with Pakistan Today, Azam Swati confirmed that the election commission of PTI had scrutinized both the panels. ‘The elections would be held across the country and we have adopted modern and foolproof technique of voting through mobile phones’, he said. He said that the election commission had registered 2700,000 voters. ‘Membership is still open. People would vote through phone and text messages’, he added.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be the candidate of Insaf panel for the slot of vice chairman and he has been challenged by Syed Aftab Shah (Member CEC) for the slot.

Jahangir Khan Tareen would be the candidate from Insaf Panel for the secretary general slot while Ehtisab Panel has fielded former state minister Dr Shehzad Waseem for the same slot. Dr Arif Alvi would vie for the slot of Sindh president from Insaf Panel while he has been challenged by Raja Azhar Khan.

Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind is the candidate for Balochistan president from Insaf panel while Ehtisab panel has fielded Sardar Khadim Hussain Wardak.

Former minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani is candidate of Insaf group for the slot of South Punjab president while Mohammad Ibrahim Khan would be the candidate from Ehtisab group.

Abdul Aleem Khan is candidate for Central Punjab president who is being challenged by Mansha Sindhu. Amir Mehmood Kayani is candidate for president North Punjab from Insaf panel while he is being challenged by Mohammad Yousaf Khattak. Faizullah Kamoka is candidate for president West Punjab from Insaf Panel while he is up against Maj (retd) Abdur Rehman Rana from Ehtisab panel.

Ali Amir Gandapur is Insaf Panel’s candidate for president south region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Ziaullah Bangash is contesting against him from Ehtisab group.

KP Finance Minister Shah Farman is candidate for the slot of president Peshawar region and he is being challenged by Syed Abdul Saboor Shah from Ehtisab panel.

Mehmood Khan is candidate of Insaf group for president Malakand Region while Ehtisab group has fielded Abdul Munim Khan, MPA.

Zargul Khan MPA is candidate for president Hazara Region while he is up against Abdul Haque Khan MPA from Ehtisab panel.

Raja Khurram Nawaz is candidate of president Islamabad Region while Raja Qaisar Ghaffar is contesting from Ehtisab panel.

SHAM ELECTIONS?

A senior PTI leader requesting not being named told this scribe that the polls had been engineered by the party’s secretary general who is all set to again clinch the same slot.

‘Systematically, they have blocked any possibility of opponents to win the polls. They smartly amended the constitution through a fake gathering of loyalists and now are all set to win again through sham means’, he added.

Asked to elaborate further, the PTI leader said that the ruling elite had made it compulsory for any candidate to have a proposer or seconder who must be a member of federal or provincial assembly. ‘This way, they blocked the doors on dissenting voices as almost all party lawmakers are loyal to them’, the PTI leader added.

Moreover, Abdul Qayyum Kundi, an active PTI leader, has vowed to challenge the intraparty election with the chief election commission as well as the Supreme Court of Pakistan, terming the intraparty polls as ‘fake polls’.

Meanwhile, PTI MNA Dawar Khan Kundi has also questioned the intraparty polls terming the process as ‘undemocratic nominations’. In a strong-worded letter to PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Kundi expressed his shock over the intraparty elections going to be held in the ‘undemocratic manner ever seen in the party’,

He said that the PTI was going to elect the same cabinet in all the four provinces which were elected six months ago by Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen and all the candidates were ‘handpicked’. ‘Is this the PTI you had promised us on oath so many times and Allah ko Hazir Nazir jaan kar’, argued Kundi.

The MNA urged Imran Khan to take notice of the ‘sheer violation of the spirit of PTI and its manifesto’ through the sham polls. ‘You have forced all the good people to leave the party and you are making all the corrupts joining PTI’, he said.