PTI Chairman Gohar Khan on Wednesday said former prime minister Imran Khan, who is incarcerated at Adiala Jail, would contest the upcoming general elections from three constituencies.
On August 5, a trial court in Islamabad had convicted Imran in a case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that involved concealing details of state gifts and jailed him for three years.
The verdict meant he was disqualified from contesting general elections for five years. However, the same month the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended Imran’s three-year sentence but he still remains in jail in other cases.
Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court had reserved its verdict on Imran’s petition seeking the suspension of his conviction in the Toshakhana gifts case.
In a media talk outside Adiala Jail today, Gohar — flanked by Barrister Ali Zafar — said the PTI wanted elections to be held on February 8 at any cost. He highlighted that his party had time and again stressed the need for a level playing field for all political parties.
“Today, we were very upset at what Shah [Mehmood Qureshi] sahib told us,” he noted, claiming that the PTI vice chairman’s nomination papers had been “snatched” from Qureshi’s secretary.
“Snatching nomination papers from people on the street would make these elections a shame,” he said.
Barrister Gohar added that Imran would be provided with his nomination papers tomorrow, vowing that “Khan sahib will content these polls, God willing”.
“Khan sahib has asked all the party workers to file their nomination papers,” the PTI chairman said, adding that the decision to allot party tickets would still be taken by Imran. He further revealed that the PTI founding member would contest elections from Lahore, Mianwali and Islamabad.
Barrister Gohar said he too would participate in the upcoming polls from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner.
Meanwhile, Barrister Zafar said the IHC was set to release its verdict on Imran’s petition challenging conviction in the Toshakhana case.
“We hope that the judgment will soon be announced because the [election] schedule has been released,” he stated, hoping that the verdict would be in the PTI’s favour.
The lawyer said all the PTI workers had been given directions to file their nomination papers as the country had entered into the election mode. “As long as the PTI candidates are concerned, our workers in jail, who have rendered sacrifices for the party in this difficult time, would be allotted tickets on a priority basis,” he said.
“The rest of the candidates have also been finalised and their names will be announced soon,” Barrister Zafar stated.
He also said that stopping party workers from filing nomination papers was an “undemocratic exercise” and would jeopardise free and fair elections. “We request the ECP to take action on this,” the lawyer added.
