Web Desk (MNN); The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has formally declined to recognise Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the chairperson of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), according to a letter released on Sunday.
The correspondence, dated November 26, was sent to Barrister Gohar in response to his November 13 application regarding the inclusion of certain senators into the PTI. While the letter did not detail the specifics, it appears that Gohar sought to include senators elected to the upper house of Parliament from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in July after considerable delays.
The ECP stated in the letter that “after due deliberation, it was observed that the issue of intra-party elections of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is pending before the commission due to the stay order obtained by the party from the Lahore High Court (LHC).”
“Under these circumstances, the commission is not in a position to accept you as chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Therefore, you do not have any locus standi, and you are informed accordingly,” the letter added.
The PTI has conducted intra-party elections three times, but the initial two were invalidated by the commission. Following the third election, the party approached the LHC, which restrained the commission from issuing any final order regarding intra-party polls.
On Saturday, Barrister Gohar addressed the matter during a press conference, noting that the last PTI intra-party election was held on March 3, 2024. He said, “We filed documentation pertaining to it, but there was no confirmation of acceptance by the Election Commission. Today, for the first time, I received the election commission’s letter formally stating that ‘we do not recognise you’. It is very unfortunate that they do not recognise the PTI.”
