Wajih expresses satisfaction over PTI convention, Imran’s speech

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan may not have been as successful as he desired to end the internal party differences on Sunday but he has won the trust of intra-party election inquiry commission Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmed who says, “The PTI chairman had abided by whatever he had agreed in his private meeting with him on Friday.”
Imran Khan, it may be recalled had a reconciliatory meeting with the commission chairman to narrow down differences on issues relating to the allegations of massive rigging in 2012 intra-party elections.
Talking to The News on Sunday, Justice Wajih said, “Although, Imran Khan had showered praises on four men i.e. Jehangir Tareen, Pervaiz Khattak, Aleem Khan and Nadir Laghari in his speech but he had not violated on whatever he had agreed to. He had not consented with me on the issue of ousting them from the party and the matter is pending till another meeting.”
He said Imran Khan had not deviated from any of the three points on which both had agreed to act in the said meeting. He said the commission had ousted these people on the basis of an inquiry finding them guilty of buying votes. Justice (retd) Wajih said “Imran Khan in his speech has pledged of holding fresh intra-party polls on direct electoral basis which was one of the three points agreed between us and although he did not talk about completion of voters lists within two months he had agreed in the said meeting but he has not opposed it either.”
The other two points on which he had agreed included making immediate arrangements for fresh intra-party elections which he had clearly mentioned by saying he will meeting Tasnim Noorani, Chief Election Commissioner, in a couple of days to discuss the details of intra-party polls. The PTI electoral inquiry commission chairman stated that “In my opinion when seven million or more party voters will elect office bearers through direct vote, chances of the ‘unwanted’ affluent persons like the four to get elected would automatically diminish since no one can buy so many votes.” A disgruntled party worker on condition of anonymity said “Imran Khan by refusing to have open discussion on the issues which were tearing the party apart had ended up at delivering a speech.”
Talking to The News, he said if the leadership feared differences would flare up in question answer session, it should have first tried to defuse the differences before holding the convention. However, one good thing accrued from the gathering was that the interim constitutional draft was not put for approval as the organisers realised it would worsen the differences.
While Imran Khan’s address to the party convention was seen as a successful attempt to at least satisfy those elements who were deadly opposed to induction of the remnants of dictatorship, the party’s old guard Hamid Khan’s future relations with the PTI seems to have reached a dead end for his outburst a day back in Lahore against the so-called occupation group that was given no weightage by party chairman in his speech. A party leader said Hamid Khan being chief election commissioner of the rigged intra-party elections should first put himself to accountability for his connivance or incompetence to hold unblemished polls.