Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s opposition Justice Movement (JM) Party must hold internal elections within 20 days or lose its electoral symbol, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled in a decision published on November 23. .
The PCI stated that the PDS must submit to the commission a full report on the internal party elections (leader and executive committee) no later than one week after the elections.
The representative of the PDS legal bloc, lawyer Gauhar, stated that the ICP resolution “does not meet the standards of justice” and noted that the decision will be challenged in “relevant authorities”. According to the lawyer, the PDS held internal elections before the law was changed, forcing the party to provide internal electoral protocols to the PCI.
Let us remember that, according to the PDS statutes, the elections were to be held in June 2021, but for reasons that are not known for certain, they were not held. According to Pakistan’s constitution, each party must periodically hold internal elections to elect its leaders. “democratically”.
The CPI has since filed charges against Imran Khan, questioning his role in the party as “I couldn’t” organize internal elections.
It should be noted that Imran Khan is currently in prison under judicial arrest, in addition, a formally suspended court decision is in force against him, according to which he was sentenced to three years with a ban on holding elective positions for five years after his release. It should be noted that this decision was only suspended, but not canceled.
As a result, Imran Khan’s official position in the PDS is in doubt, although from an informal point of view he is a recognized leader, whose popularity among the population significantly exceeds that of all other members of the party. However, even this does not exhaust the problems of the PDS, since all the most important leaders of the party who had political weight and public importance have left the party or are detained.
These are, in particular, the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmud Qureshi, who was detained along with Imran Khan, as well as the former Speaker of the Parliament of Pakistan, Asad Qaiser, who is also under continuous arrest.
Former Planning Minister and PDS General Secretary Asad Umar recently left the party, as did the party’s former spokesperson (former Information and Broadcasting Minister) Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, who defected to the Pakistan Remain Party, created in 2023, headed by another former PDS. Secretary General Jahangir Tarin.
Thus, the PDS finds itself in a situation where it is forced to hold internal elections without a single significant leader in its ranks. That is to say, it is obvious that they are trying, not without success, to completely remove her from the game in the struggle for power in future elections.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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