The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party has elected Gohar Ali Khan as its new chairman in intra-party polls to replace jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The election for the PTI’s leadership position was held on the instructions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which last month declared the intra-party polls held last June as “highly objectionable”.
According to Pakistan media reports, Khan was elected to the chairman’s position unopposed.
The new PTI chief has been nominated to take over the party by Imran Khan, who has been lodged at a high-security jail in Rawalpindi since September.
Speaking to journalists in Peshawar after his election to the chairman’s post, Gohar expressed confidence about winning the federal election.
Imran Khan, who faces over 100 cases against him, has accused the authorities of orchestrating politically-motivated charges against him in order to keep him from contesting the upcoming election.
Pakistan’s caretaker cabinet this week gave its sanction to try Khan in jail in the "cipher case". The former PM has been accused of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act by realising details of a diplomatic cable sent from Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington last year.
Khan was toppled from power in a no-confidence motion last April, before he could complete his full term.
The former PM has claimed that he was ousted because of a US-backed conspiracy as the Biden administration wasn’t pleased with his independent foreign policy, including overtures to Russia.