ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) yesterday announced to postpone its much-talked about intra-party polls for an indefinite period of time claiming that it was focusing all its energies on the protest movement against the PML-N govt that was facing allegations of having off shore wealth.
"We are postponing intra-party polls because we are going to launch a protest movement against the govt in the wake of Panama leaks that will end with the Raiwind March (the residence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family)," said Chairman PTI Imran Khan while putting pressure on the Nawaz Sharif to form a Judicial Commission to probe Panama Leaks.
He was talking to reporters after an emergency called meeting of party leadership.
However, he made conditional to the postponement of his march with the formation of Judicial Commission under the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
"If the government formed Judicial Commission, as demanded, then there would be mere commemoration in connection with party's Foundation Day on April 24 ,otherwise, we will announce our plan of action on that day," he said.
A PTI leader told The Nation while wishing anonymity that party at the moment lacked capacity to deal with two bigger tasks, the intra-party polls and a movement against the Sharif family.
"We have discussed the issue of postponement of intra-party elections thread bare and party leadership viewed that if the issue of Panama Leaks was not pursued with full energies, it will die down within two weeks," he said while giving the reason of deferment.
He further said that Imran Khan had a feeling that PTI was the only party that would stand up against the govt on the issue with the suspicion that some Opposition parties would make a compromise. "So party Chairman wants to deal this issue more seriously using all kinds of available resources," he said.
A participant of the meeting said that PTI was eyeing some early elections if it succeeded to run a successful protest movement and thus could not afford intra-party polls at this stage that were causing more rifts within the party.
He gave an example of PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi's speech to party workers made in Lahore where he vent his anger against Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar and Jehangir Khan Tareen.
PTI Chairman in his media talk announced that a fresh movement, more organised than the Azadi March of 2014, would be launched this time to purge the country from the cancer of corruption.
"We will invite civil society, lawyers, farmers and political parties to join us," he added.
Imran Khan said that they were postponing elections till the end of Raiwind March but membership campaign of the party, which was supposed to end by April 15, would continue. "We would hold intra-party elections soon after three weeks following the end of Raiwind March." PTI Election Commission had issued elections schedule during the last week according to which the process was supposed to complete on June 5.
Responding a question about taking other political parties along in movement, he said that previously they had to take solo flight but they would not do this then. This is the golden opportunity, and we can make Naya Pakistan if people gathered on corruption, he added. We will invite civil society, labourers, farmers and all political parties for this movement, he added.
PTI chief said that the party had decided to constitute two internal committees, which would look after the political and financial matters respectively for the march. The committees would make all the arrangements and establish contacts, he added. He also asked overseas Pakistanis to help hire a reputed audit firm with expertise in dealing with white-collar crime.
To a question about Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's offer for a meeting, he said that he was ready to Nisar, as he did not want chaos.
About a question of internal party rifts following a speech of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, he said that this was the symbol of democracy within political parties and deplored people here were not in the habit of democracy within parties.