While the PTI issued an internal memo to establish a chain of command, some of the party leaders criticised the move as an effort to run the party like an “army unit” and argued that differences of opinion are the “beauty and plus point” of the organisation. The leaders believe that the internal memo is undemocratic and ensures one-man rule instead of decentralisation. They also claimed that the original constitution of PTI had a core committee and nothing like a political one. PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram stated that “the internal memo was the need of the hour and was issued by Additional Secretary General PTI Firdous Shamim Naqvi to streamline recent issues faced by the party.” The memo, available with Dawn , states that in the centre, provincial presidents and general secretaries or equivalent office bearers will report to the party’s secretary general. Similarly, at the provincial level, the regional president and general secretary will report to the sec...
The PTI has decided to release a white paper which will “disclose” evidence of the government’s alleged role in rigging. the recent by-elections, Corruption , the poor law and order situation in the country, malintent in recent legislation and the economic meltdown in Pakistan.
Party stalwart and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser told Dawn he was hopeful that the white paper would be released next month, as different teams would be working on it and all the findings would be compiled.
He alleged that the recent rigging in the by-elections, especially in Haripur, once again proved that the incumbent government had failed and become unpopular.
“The white paper will cover all issues, including economic conditions, corruption, election rigging, law and order situation, etc,” Qaiser said. “Moreover, we will also give the comparison of the performance of the incumbent government with the tenure of PTI.”
Replying to a question, Qaiser said that the legal team headed by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja will look into issues related to law, election rigging and legislation passed by the government as part of the white paper.
“It is a fact that the incumbent government has passed a number of bills and has done legislation, but not a single legislation was done to address the issues of the masses,” he added.
Regarding the section of the white paper dealing with economic downturn and corruption, Qaiser said that party leaders, including Taimur Khan Jhagra, Muhammad Zubair and Muzzammil Aslam, would work on it.
“Similarly, other teams will work on different issues and in the end all will be compiled in the white paper, which will be released next month,” he said.
While talking to media persons earlier, Raja also announced that the white paper would be released, but said that “the law will also be followed”.
He said that during the hearing in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Ali Bukhari demanded that all party members should receive the same treatment, as leaders from Punjab travelled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and made statements, but the ECP did not take the issue up seriously.
“The KP chief minister has directed that the bureaucracy must implement the law and there should not be rigging,” Raja said. “It is the duty of the CM to ensure that the laws are implemented and followed.”
KP CM Sohail Afridi said that he has informed the ECP that, in case of rigging, legal action would be taken against the officials.
“In Haripur, presiding officers were KP government servants, but the returning officer was from the ECP and his office employees were from the federal government, so they issued Form 45 despite ‘pressure’,” he said.
Replying to a question, the CM said that the PTI would continue criticising policies that violate the law and claimed that Form 45 has signatures of polling agents from both sides, but the tickers shared from the RO office were different.
CM Afridi also said that the federal government should pay Rs3 trillion to the KP government so that development work could get started.
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