File photo of PTI’s Raoof Hasan
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday officially announced the results of its intra-party polls, confirming that Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub Khan were elected unopposed as the chairman and secretary general of the party, respectively, adding the polls were held as per Supreme Court guidelines.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PTI Federal Election Commissioner Raoof Hasan said the PTI conducted intra-party elections for a third time as per Supreme Court guidelines. He said four candidates had filed nomination papers for the slot of PTI chairman, with three of them accepted and one rejected. Of the remaining three candidates, he said, two—Ashraf Jabbar and Muhammad Aslam—had withdrawn their nominations, resulting in Gohar being elected unopposed.
He thanked both Jabbar and Aslam, who were also present during the press conference, for “voluntarily” withdrawing their nominations in favor of Gohar “in the party’s interest” and to maintain harmony and unity. He said the nomination of Naveed Anjum Khan were rejected because he contested the 2024 general elections against a PTI-backed independent candidate and as such had his party membership cancelled by the district president on Feb. 11.
In Balochistan, the panel of Dawood Shah—supported by PTI founder Imran Khan—won the provincial president slot, defeating Amin Khan Jogezai and Munir Ahmed Baloch. According to the provincial election commissioner, Shah secured 445 votes, followed by 435 for Baloch and 57 for Jogezai. He claimed a 100 percent voter turnout of 940 registered votes.
The PTI had already announced that the three remaining provincial chiefs were elected unopposed. Dr. Yasmin Rashid has been elected president of PTI Punjab; Ali Amin Gandapur the president of PTI Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; and Haleem Adil Sheikh the president of PTI Sindh.
All the winners were nominated and supported by Imran Khan, with all indications their victories were assured regardless of whether or not they contested unopposed.