Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leaders pointed out a ‘systematic rigging’ in the intra-party elections, recently held in the western Canadian province of Alberta.
The intra-party elections, held in Calgary cosmopolitan city, was supposed to be a contest among two groups – Team Insaaf, headed by Syed Seerat Abbas, and Team Pakistan, headed by Gul Rehman Khan. Both the sides had made over 1200 votes – the biggest number in any city or region in a foreign country.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Canadian branch of the ruling party transferred over 72,000.00 (Canadian) dollars to the party’s head office in Pakistan after the collection of 60 (Canadian) dollars from each 1200 members, registered with the party’s overseas branch.
Despite the corona pandemic and not so favourable financial position, the Canada-based party leadership collected and transferred a huge amount from Calgary cosmopolitan city just to support their party and Imran Khan’s vision for a new Pakistan.
In return, Team Pakistan leader Gul Rehman Khan said that the community has to face a division after a rigging by the election committee which clearly favoured Team Insaaf to win in the intra-party polls just to get upper executive seats at the national level.
FRESH ELECTIONS
Overseas Pakistani Forum (OPF) Canada Chairman Burhan Khan said that nations are not brought down by a war or natural disasters but they have been brought down by dishonesty, manipulations, corruptions and divisions. “We know road to power is full of pain,” he said, adding that power hungry don’t care of anyone and anything as they just want to cling to the power.
He said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. “We the overseas members ask our party’s higher command to investigate this matter immediately in order to avoid further division among the community and declare this election null and void,” he said and demanded fresh elections under a third party surveillance.
“PTI is not among those parties which support corrupts and corrupt practices,” Burhan Khan said, and asked party leaders at centre to avoid interference. “We are all educated people and we know about the ‘centre of corruption’ in any party,” he said. Gul Rehman Khan pointed out that the election commission turned their blind eye and deaf ears to party members.
The Team Pakistan candidates kept on sending email and phone calls to the election commission but no action was taken as of today PTI members have been given nothing but runaround. “Their (election panel) motto is “when money comes your way, you do not ask questions” and offer no remedies to correct the wrong doing,” they said.
