The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to review its party constitution and hold intra-party elections at the earliest, The News reported on Thursday.
The decision was taken on the directives of PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja. A seven-member committee has also been formed to examine the existing constitution and suggest revisions.
The committee will consist of Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Akram Raja, Dr Arif Alvi, Hamid Khan, Asad Qaiser, Raoof Hassan and Firdous Shamim Naqvi.
The committee has been mandated to complete the task within 10 days of its appointment. The notification to this effect was issued on December 9, bearing the signatures of Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi.
When contacted by The News, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed the development and said the review committee will primarily focus on revising the constitution to prepare for any eventuality that might arise in the coming times.
The notification states, “We need to do this to remove all anomalies that are causing a lot of issues for us with the Election Commission of Pakistan. We want to bring our constitution in line with other parties so that the ECP cannot use the constitution against us.” It further explains, “We would need to have intra-party elections as soon as possible, therefore the time for review is very short.”
Owing to the non-issuance of its electoral symbol, the PTI continues to field its candidates as independents, as its intra-party elections conducted on March 3 last year remain pending with the ECP. The party approached the Lahore High Court, which has restrained the electoral body from passing a final judgement regarding PTI’s intra-party polls.
