PTI says intra-party polls due next year

ISLAMABAD: A day after being issued a show-cause notice over ‘failure to conduct intra-party elections within the stipulated period’, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf (PTI) on Friday said it had not missed the legal deadline.

PTI’s information secretary Ahmad Jawad said the last intra-party elections of the party took place in June 2017 and the five-year term of the elected office-bearers would expire almost after a year.

He said the notice issued to the party’s chairman Imran Khan would be examined from all aspects.

He said the future course of action would be announced after examining the notice in the light of the law.

Insists no legal deadline has been missed

Mr Jawad said that the PTI was a party which introduced intra-party elections in the country.

He said intra-party elections were a significant part of the PTI’s constitution and chairman Imran Khan had a clear vision about the concept of democracy within the party.

He said the PTI had been conducting intra-party elections since its establishment.

“It has not only conducted elections, but also brought about innovation and transparency in the whole process and set up an independent election commission for intra-party polls which supervises the polls from central offices down to the lowest tiers,” the PTI leader said.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to Prime Minister Imran Khan in his capacity as chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ‘for not holding intra-party elections within the stipulated time’.

The ECP notice, a copy of which is available with Dawn, asked the PTI chief to explain reasons for not holding intra-party polls on June 13, 2021.

Under the Elections Act, 2017, all political parties are required to hold intra-party elections on time.

The ECP requires all political parties to conduct intra-party elections before every five years, and the parties can also hold the polls in three or four years as enshrined in their respective constitutions.

The ECP also sought a response from the prime minister within 14 days, warning that the election commission “shall take further action under the law” if the notice was not responded to.