ISLAMABAD: Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, a former spokesperson for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, has complained to PTI election tribunal chief retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed against ‘victimisation’ for speaking up about alleged irregularities in the party elections.

In a petition, he accused top PTI leaders of interfering in the party elections and not providing a level playing field to candidates.

He alleged that he was removed from the position of spokesperson for Mr Khan without any notice or inquiry.

“My removal is a clear violation of the PTI’s constitution,” he said.

“Although Tasneem Noorani has been appointed as the new election commissioner, I have been told that I became controversial by sending you an email and demanding fair and free intra-party elections under a new election commissioner and his new team; therefore, I was removed from the office without any show cause or inquiry,” he said in the petition.

Read: PTI’s chief furious as internal party differences made public

When contacted, Mr Cheema said: “It is an internal party matter and I cannot comment on it.”

The petition was submitted during a meeting of the PTI tribunal held on Sunday. The tribunal summoned the party chairman.

Mr Khan removed Mr Cheema as spokesperson on March 23 for “leaking internal party information to the media”. He took the action over Mr Cheema’s act of sharing with media personnel a report compiled by Justice Ahmed about allegations of rigging in the elections, which proposed that all elected bodies of the PTI be dissolved.

According to Mr Cheema, the tribunal had declared the party elections null and void on March 18 and ordered the leadership to hold fresh polls in three months.

The tribunal also dissolved all party bodies, including the office-bearers, and issued show-cause notices to the PTI’s secretary general and Sindh president for interfering in its proceedings.

“Instead of implementing the orders of the tribunal, the PTI chairman dissolved the election tribunal on March 24,” the complainant said.

However, disregarding the dissolution orders of the PTI chairman, the tribunal met on April 10 and issued fresh order to him to appear before it.

Mr Khan had said that he would appear before the tribunal on Sunday. However, despite being in Karachi, he cancelled his plan to appear before the tribunal and sought more time, according to sources.

“It’s really alarming that to protect the sacred cows of PTI, loyal and sincere workers are being taken for granted and if they demand a neutral election commissioner or transparent elections within the party, they are victimised and removed from offices without any inquiry or show-cause notice,” the petition said.

It requested that a level playing field should be ensured, caretaker office-bearers should not be allowed to contest party elections and reasonable time should be given for campaigning for posts at the central level, unlike the last time when it was less than 36 hours with incomplete voter lists.

“The PTI needs to have a credible, competent and empowered election commissioner and his team to hold free and fair elections,” Mr Cheema said in the petition.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2015

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