Imran eligible to contest polls, says Gohar

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek Insaf leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said Thursday PTI founder Imran Khan is eligible to participate in the elections, and that the party is hopeful the courts will provide justice to him, as he wants to contest the polls.

Referring to Imran, he said the PTI founder has said that he will fight till the last ball and that his message to party workers is that they should be peaceful. He demanded that the Supreme Court take suo motu notice of the arrest of senior party leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

In a chat with journalists outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where the PTI founding chairman is incarcerated, Gohar said that horse trading is a violation of the Constitution and law. He alleged that the party founder is not being allowed to contest elections.

However, he emphasised that the party will not leave any seat vacant in the election battle, claiming, “The PTI founder is eligible to participate in the election, and we hope that the courts will provide justice to him.”

The message of the PTI founder, he maintained, is that the workers should remain peaceful, and it is hoped by the judiciary that his nomination papers will be accepted.

Replying to a question, Barrister Gohar said that Sheikh Rashid has his party; he is contesting elections from his constituency; the decision to support Sheikh Rashid or not has not yet been made.

He said that the process of general elections is being tarnished, and the Supreme Court should take suo motu notice of the staining of the election process.

The PTI leader reiterated that those who have held press conferences are not being considered for the award of party tickets for the upcoming elections. “We are finalising the tickets; a decision will also be taken in two to four days; the nomination papers of all our leaders have been submitted,” he explained. He accused the caretaker government of targeting his party and alleged that ‘this caretaker setup is abusing us; the PTI has been targeted for the last several months. The election commission should take more steps so that transparent elections can be held.

He claimed that no one is satisfied with the performance of the election commission and underlined that it should realise its responsibility.