ECP does not recognise Barrister Gohar as PTI chairman

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has refused to recognise Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as chairperson of the PTI, it emerged on Sunday.

According to a letter dated November 26 and addressed to Barrister Gohar, which is seen by Dawn, the PTI leader had written an application to the commission on November 13 regarding the inclusion of senators into the PTI.

While the letter did not elaborate on the matter raised by Barrister Gohar, he seemed to have sought the inclusion of those senators into his party who were elected to the upper house of Parliament from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in July after much delay.

The ECP said in its letter that “after due deliberation, it was observed that the issue of intra-party election of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is pending before the commission due to the stay order obtained by the party from the Lahore High Court (LHC)”.

“Hence, in the above circumstances, the commission is not in a position to accept you as chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Therefore, you do not have any locus standi, and you are informed, accordingly,” the letter read.

The PTI has held intra-party elections three times, but the initial two were voided by the commission. Following the third election, the PTI approached the LHC, which restrained the commission from issuing any final order in proceedings related to the intra-party polls.

On Saturday, Barrister Gohar also addressed the matter during a press conference, recalling that the last intra-party election of the PTI was held on March 3, 2024.

“We filed documentation pertaining to it, but there was no [confirmation of] acceptance by the election commission. Today, for the first time, I received the election commission’s letter in which they formally said that ‘we do not recognise you’. It is very unfortunate that they do not recognise the PTI,” he said.