LAHORE, Jan 22: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf’s unopposed elected office-bearers and workers from all over Punjab have vowed to continue intra-party elections.

PTI office-bearers as well as tehsil and district level party candidates were speaking at a convention organised by a group led by Ijaz Chaudhry, Dr Yasmin Rashid and Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed at party’s Lahore region secretariat on Tuesday.

They said those spreading rumors that party elections were being postponed, would face humiliating defeat.

Mr Chaudhry, who earned party office-bearers’ and workers’ nomination as PTI’s Punjab chapter president, said intra-party elections were a historic step to empower real party workers as leaders to bring about revolutionary change in the country. He said 85 per cent of the country’s population wanted change, while 15 per cent “beneficiaries” were in favour of status quo.

He said the PTI was giving a philosophy of collective leadership. He advised the party workers not to make petty complaints and instead keep on preparing for the elections. He said the candidates should ensure that the voters poll their votes through their registered cell phone number or taking them to polling booths.

Mr Chaudhry said 258-member provincial council would elect the provincial leadership. Giving a break-up of provincial council, he said, the council would have Punjab’s 146 union council’s presidents, three district-level office-bearers -- senior vice-presidents (male and female) and general secretary and general secretaries of four regions.

Dr Rashid said the intra-party elections would bring a real change because the real leaders would lead the masses according to the vision of party chief Imran Khan.

Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed said the PTI, Lahore chapter, would serve as a role model and added that party’s tsunami team would sweep party elections in Lahore. He said the PTI would emerge as a revolutionary party instead of a traditional political party.

Party’s unopposed elected office-bearers and workers representing their divisions told the party leadership that they had won unopposed in most of the union councils in Lahore. Some members, however, hinted at problems in Rahim Yar Khan and Gujranwala.

Javed Leghari from Dera Ghazi Khan division, Moazzam Ali Bahawalpur division, Shahida Malka Multan division, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar Lahore division, Hayat Lak Sargodha division, Imran Ghazali Sahiwal division, minority representative Mahindra Singh, Shafqat Abbasi, Umer Dar, Umer Mair and Mian Noor Muhammad Baba spoke.