Confusion in Imran Khan's party over his reported plan not to contest as Chairman

Islamabad/Lahore: Confusion erupted within Imran Khan's Pakis­tan Tehreek-e-Insaf party after it dismissed a statement by one of its own senior leaders, who claimed that the jailed former prime minister would not contest for the chairman's post in the upcoming intra-party polls.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is set to conduct intra-party elections within the 20-day time frame set by the election commission to retain the ‘bat’ as its electoral symbol, ahead of general elections scheduled to be held on February 8.

Barrister Gohar Khan will be the candidate for PTI’s chairmanship, Senior Vice-President Sher Afzal Marwat said on Tuesday, hours after Khan, 71, reportedly decided against retaining the top post due to legal hurdles as the party heads towards internal polls, Geo News reported.

Khan remains behind bars in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail and is entangled in several legal battles.

Despite Marwat’s announcement, the PTI had claimed that there were no such plans for Imran to step down from his position.

The PTI, in a statement on X, strongly rebutted the “speculation” over the election of a new party chairman.

“Discussions are ongoing on all the important issues regarding the holding of intra-party elections,” it added.

Although several party leaders had confirmed that Khan would not be contesting the intra-party elections, they had claimed that the final candidate would be announced later on.

But Marwat, the party’s new face in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, stuck to his guns in the face of the party’s denial, and in response, took to X to say: “Whatever I have said in my media talk about the intra-party election is correct. The decisions were taken by the PTI chairman in the presence of Senator Ali Zafar, Barrister Gohar Umair Niazi and myself,” he said on Wednesday.

If true, the development will mark an end to Khan’s tenure at the key position since the party’s formation more than two decades back, the Pakistani media commented.

The PTI’s Core Committee on Monday gave formal approval to hold the intra-party polls within the time frame of 20 days given by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). If the party does not follow the orders, it will lose its bat symbol.

Khan, being a former iconic international cricketer, is considered synonymous with the (cricket) bat.

This will be a huge development for the party as the country moves towards general elections, set to take place in February.