Intra-party poll: Imran Khan re-elected unopposed as PTI chairman

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan has been re-elected unopposed as the PTI chairman on Wednesday as two other candidates for the party’s top slot had withdrawn in his favour.

It is pertinent to mention here that five days ahead of the deadline, given to it by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) last year, the PTI fixed June 8 (today) for the intra-party election. The last date for the conduct of intra-party polls for the PTI was June 13, 2021, however, because of a request from the party, it had been given time till June 13, 2022.

Meanwhile, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar have also been re-elected as the vice-chairman and the secretary-general of the party, respectively.

Incumbent rulers will not do anything without US approval

Addressing the party workers and leaders at the PTI's National Council Meeting after the Intra-party elections, Khan vehemently criticised the government and said the incumbent rulers would "not do anything without the approval of the United States".

The PTI chairman said they will “not take a stand for the nation” as they have billions of dollars stored in foreign bank accounts, which they will protect at any cost.

“They are afraid that if America is disgruntled with them, then they will suffer the same fate as the Russian oligarchs,” the PTI chairman said, claiming that from 2008 to 2018, the United States carried out 400 drone attacks on Pakistan, a number that had been unprecedented.

Khan said the leaders of that era — ex-president Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif — did not “utter a word in protest” when the drone attacks were taking place in Pakistan despite Islamabad being an ally of Washington.