LAHORE: Raoof Hasan, the spokesman for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was overwhelmingly chosen by the party on Wednesday to serve as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and supervise the intra-party elections, according to ARY News.
The appointment was announced at the PTI’s general body meeting, which was practically held on Wednesday over a video link because the Central Secretariat of the party was closed.
PTI Chief Organiser Omar Ayub said that Raoof Hasan has been named the party’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to supervise the intra-party elections.
The move was made in response to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) nullifying the previous elections because of anomalies in the law. This move not only hurt the outgoing governing party but also caused the PTI to lose its electoral symbol.
PTI lost the use of the “bat” as an electoral symbol on January 14 after the Peshawar High Court’s decision was ruled invalid by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC).
The application before the Peshawar High Court was deemed inadmissible by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who presided over a three-member bench, on the grounds that a single matter cannot be heard concurrently in two High Courts.
According to the ruling, all political parties are required to perform free and fair intra-party elections, so Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was found to have failed to provide proof of conducting transparent elections within the party.
After the ruling by the Supreme Court (SC), the PTI declared that its candidates will run in separate elections.
Speaking with reporters outside the supreme court, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that each party candidate will run independently in the general elections on February 8.
Barrister Gohar declared that his party will appeal the Supreme Court’s decision, stating that the court’s decision was “controversial” and had “deeply disappointed” him.
The PTI head declared, “Whether we have the bat or not, the people are still us,” adding that it was the court’s responsibility to make sure that each and every person’s fundamental rights were upheld.
