PESHAWAR: The ideological workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, who were protesting against the appointment of Azam Swati as provincial president of the party, got another bad news from none other than PTI chairman Imran Khan, who nominated Yousaf Ayub Khan and Fazal Khan as organiser and deputy organiser of the party for an interim period in the province, insiders said.

“Khan’s announcement to dissolve the party organisations in the fulfillment of retired Justice Wajihuddin’s decision is victory of the ideological workers but the appointment of Yousaf Ayub Khan as provincial organiser of the party has caused resentment among the workers,” Syed Saad Abdullah, a former provincial secretary information of PTI, told Dawn.

He also appreciated Imran Khan for accepting the decision of PTI tribunal regarding rigging in the intra-party elections and agreeing to hold fresh polls in transparent manner. However, he said that appointment of a person, who was disqualified by a court for possessing a fake university degree in September last year, as provincial organiser of the party was violation of the basic Appointment of organisers disappoints PTI old guard principle of PTI.

He said that according to Section 5 of Political Parties Order 2002, Mr Ayub was incapable of holding the office of PTI provincial organiser. The Section 5 of PPO says: “Provided that a person shall not be appointed to serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is not qualified to be or is disqualified from being elected or chosen as member of the Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) under Article 63 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan or any other law for the time being in future.”

Sources said that PTI ideological cadre had forwarded the names of Imran Shehzad, a former provincial finance secretary of the party, and Salim Khan, a member of the standing committee on accountability and discipline, for the interim positions, but they were rejected.

Yousaf Ayub Khan, who joined PTI after 2011, was elected MPA in 2013. He also managed to get PTI ticket for his brother for the by-election on the seat vacated after his qualification, sources said.

“Yousaf Ayub is very close to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and has good connections at the top than ideological workers, who have gone into hibernation since the last general elections,” they said.

A senior leader of PTI said that he was ashamed to associate himself with a party that had been campaigning for rule of merit and transparency but gave reins of the party to a person, who was disqualified by a court.

He said that same was true for Azam Swati, who also belonged to Hazara. He became provincial president of PTI and then became a senator, he added.

“Both Ayub and Swati are from Hazara and had enjoyed positions in PML-N and JUI-F respectively. They had nothing to do the party’s ideology,” he said.

Fazal Khan, deputy provincial organiser of PTI, is also a late entrant in the party. He was elected PTI regional general secretary of Peshawar valley in intra-party polls. Khan is son of Nisar Mohammad Khan, who remained federal minister in Gen Ziaul Haq’s government and later associated with PML-N and Q and then joined PTI in 2011.

Senior party workers, who joined PTI before 2000, said that the party was hijacked by those people, who managed to win intra-party elections on the basis of which they had been given party’s tickets for National and provincial assemblies in the last general elections.

Now the elections have been declared fraudulent by Wajihuddin-led tribunal and therefore the people, who had won these polls, should be hold accountable, they added.

“PTI is campaigning against rigging in the last general elections. What about the PTI’s own rigged elections and what action is being taken against those who were elected as result of fake elections and currently run the KP government,” they said.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2015

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