PTI’s new bodies elected in UK amid allegations of fraud

LONDON: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members have elected new bodies across the UK in intra-party elections amid boycott by a group over allegations that votes were purchased and bogus methods were used.

But the winning candidates have said that those who boycotted elections announced their decision to boycott and withdraw when they realised that their defeat was imminent. It’s understood that at least three panels boycotted elections 24 hours before the electronic voting started. The PTI currently has 9,036 verified members who pay a monthly amount to become full members eligible to vote. The new bodies were elected in six regions and the turnout was above 80 percent.

Barrister Mian Waheedur Rehman has been elected London president again, representing ‘United for Peace’ panel. From East of England, Radul Fasad panel’s Mustafa Kamal was elected president; Basit Shah was declared winner in North West and Romi Malik declared president in South East.

The London region’s “Ideologues Panel” and “East of England Unity Team” boycotted the election process, alleging fraud and mismanagement. Sahibzada Jahangir, veteran PTI figure who overall heads PTI in UK and Europe, appreciated the election of new bodies and rejected allegations of wrongdoings.

“Democracy demands elections and each time there are elections controversy will always surface, whether they are held in UK, Pakistan or USA. I am aware certain people boycotted the UK intra-party elections. It was unfortunate. I think serious changes are needed in the UK Finance Board and its code of conduct, rules and regulations and especially the board management needs new faces and fresh minds to run the board. The politics of hate, divide and rule must be buried as the PTI now must unite and concentrate on the 2018 general elections in Pakistan," added Sahibzada Jahangir.

Veteran PTI figure Asim Khan, who was linked with the Ideologues Panel, raised serious concerns on PTI’s UK election commission for not doing its job properly. “It failed to carry out due diligence on membership list, there were lots of gaps such as voters list was late, it should have been published on 22nd February but it was published on 22nd March, a day ahead of election date. There was issue of members list not verified appropriately. Our members in East London reported that Bangladeshi nationals have been made members of PTI which was illegal. We repeatedly asked the election commission to look into our complaints but no action was taken. We maintain that due process was not followed, hence we boycotted the process. It was against the spirit of our constitution and the whole ethos of institution,” he said.

Waheedur Rehman, who has won election as London president for the second time, rejected allegations of fraud and said that the members spoke through their votes. He said the fact his panel received 992 votes and the opposing panel received only 95 votes speaks for itself. He said the PTI-UK will work closely with Pakistani set-up to help resolve the issues of overseas Pakistanis. He said that soon coordination committees will be announced to help PTI in Pakistan to prepare for victory in next elections. He said that the newly elected bodies will play a central role in promoting the ideology of PTI. “The election commission looked into all complaints and found nothing wrong. Allegations were made but these were just false allegations,” he said.