PM Imran announces new organisational structure for PTI: Fawad

Published December 25, 2021
Prime Minister Imran Khan pictured during a live QnA session with the people of Pakistan. — Photo: Imran Khan Instagram
Prime Minister Imran Khan pictured during a live QnA session with the people of Pakistan. — Photo: Imran Khan Instagram

Prime Minister Imran Khan has named the new organisational structure for the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), a day after dissolving all previous bodies within his party following an embarrassing defeat in the first phase of local government elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The announcement of the prime minister's decision was made by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry through his official Twitter account.

Chaudhry said Planning Minister Asad Umar had been chosen as the secretary general and the following individuals had been named the presidents for various provincial divisions.

  • Defence Minister Pervez Khattak for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi for Sindh
  • National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri for Balochistan
  • Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood for Punjab
  • Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar for South Punjab

In a later tweet, the information minister said Amir Mehmood Kiani — previously the PTI secretary general — was nominated as the additional secretary general by the prime minister.

Umar said that an important position in "Pakistan's largest political party was not only an honour but also a massive responsibility".

"Under the leadership of Imran Khan, the PTI will become stronger as per the expectations of party workers and voters," he said.

"The workers of this party are its capital, the example of which is not found in any other party."

Zaidi said he was "humbled by the faith" that the premier had shown in him.

"Will try to live up to the expectations of all, especially PTI workers. Together we will pull Sindh out of deprivation," he tweeted.

Chaudhry had announced the dissolution of previous organisations in a press conference on Friday after a meeting of the party's senior leadership that was chaired by the premier.

According to Chaudhry, the prime minister had expressed dissatisfaction over the party's performance in KP local body polls where it suffered an embarrassing defeat. He said that according to the results of the elections in village councils, the PTI was still the "biggest party in the province".

"But the way tickets were awarded [...] PTI does not believe in dynastic politics. PM Imran has never let his personal relations affect his mission."

He said that the PTI leadership had debated the party's organisational structure. He said that the way the PTI — one of the major political parties of the country — should have participated in the local government polls was not evident on ground.

Therefore, the prime minister — after consulting with the party leadership — decided to dissolve all organisations from the centre to the tehsils, he said. "Chief organisers and all office bearers have been removed from their positions," Chaudhry had said.

"It has also been decided that the local leadership will not award party tickets when it comes to their relatives. A special committee will be formed where the case will be forwarded and it will decide whether or not to award the ticket," he had added.

Chaudhry said that a separate committee had been constituted which would include himself, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Khattak, Communication and Postal Services Minister Murad Saeed, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Bakhtiar, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Umar and others.

According to the minister, the committee had been tasked with proposing a new constitution and party structure.

In the elections held in the 17 districts of KP on December 19, the PTI, which has been in power in the province since 2013, showed a dismal performance, conceding ground to the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F).

According to the provisional results of 47 of the 63 tehsils declared by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the JUI-F won 17 seats of mayor/chairperson while the PTI came in second by securing 12 seats. Independent candidates grabbed the third highest number of seats at seven, followed by Awami National Party at six, PML-N at three and Jamaat-i-Islami, PPP and Tehreek-i-Islahat Pakistan bagging one seat each.

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