PTI’s overseas intra-party elections stopped

LONDON: PTI Chairman Imran Khan has directed that till the report on reorganisation of the Office of International Chapters (OIC) is finalised and approved, all intra-party elections in the UK and in other countries shall be held in abeyance.
PTI Leader Naeem-ul-Haq, who is head of the Chairman’s Office, confirmed to The News: “All international elections have been postponed due to the reorganisation of International Division of PTI for which the committee set up by Chairman Imran Khan has finalised its report. All postponed elections are expected to be completed before the end of April.”
At a meeting held here in which large number of veteran PTI activists took part, Sahibzada Jahangir, who is Imran Khan’s Senior Adviser on international affairs, welcomed the decision of Imran Khan and hoped that this decision will provide a level playing field to everyone in the party who would like to come forward and take part in the democratic process.
He said restructure of OIC, appointment of an independent election commission and check and balance were some of the urgent demands of PTI UK members and supporters before any elections should take place here.
Sahibzada Jahangir alleged that the OIC was also the target of massive criticism at a recent PTI Europe convention in Paris and “lacked the wisdom and knowledge of understanding the mindset of the overseas Pakistanis”.
He said that the PTI is the only party in the UK that has introduced democratic culture in its ranks and now it is headed towards holding successful intra-party elections for the second time. “Other parties lack democratic culture of election and should take a leaf from the PTI’s book on how democracy is really practised. The intra-party elections are important for promoting democracy and we have always welcomed them but we needed time and structural changes to the existing system to ensure that everyone gets an equal opportunity and no one is left out.”
The party activists present at the meeting requested renowned community activist and businessman Amjad Khan to stand for the London presidency to which he said that he would consider.
PTI’s first ever elected London region president Shahbaz Khan said that restructuring is good and will give some confidence to electoral system.He said that a “slight breakdown of communication within has caused the delay”. He said the PTI has over 3,000 paid members who are all eligible to vote and many more are joining the party.
“Each member pays £36 per-annum to become eligible to vote. The level of member retention and new recruits reflects the confidence they have shown in local and senior leadership in Pakistan.”He confirmed that he will be himself standing for the office of London presidency again with his panel.