The final schedule for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s intra party elections will be finalised within a week and discussions are ongoing as to the modus operandi of the election. This was stated by Iftikhar Durrani, head of PTI's Central Media Department. PTI recently appointed Senator Azam Khan Swati on April 24, 2017 as the election commissioner of the party and Imran Khan has tasked him to finalize the plan for intra-party polls.
A senior member of the PTI's electoral committee told this correspondent that "we have discussed the legal and political aspects of the intra-party polls given that the previous polls held shortly before the last general elections had caused many rifts within the party". The decision to hold intra-party elections came after Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a statement Friday last ruled that PTI as per Sections 11 and 12 of Political Parties Ordinance, 2002 was not eligible to be issued an election symbol in the upcoming general elections as it failed to hold intra-party elections.
When contacted PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said that under the law, the ECP must first issue a notice to the party before taking any such measures.
"ECP's refusal to issue PTI an election symbol shows mala fide intent", he said, adding that the final plan for the intra-party polls will be announced after deliberation in a party meeting shortly. The PTI core committee had earlier postponed intra-party elections owing to the ongoing Panama papers case in the Supreme Court and had suggested holding intra-party polls after the 2018 general elections.