 "PTI chief Imran Khan at a Lahore court, on Friday pti/ap")
The organisational elections of jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party were postponed on Friday, party chief Gohar Khan said, asserting that the intra-party polls could "divert" attention from the February 8 general elections.
With the country's general elections barely a week away, the 71-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had on Thursday announced fresh intra-party polls on February 5.
On Friday, the PTI party Chairman Khan announced the postponement of the organisational elections on the former prime minister's directives, asserting that the organisational polls can divert attention from next week's general elections, Geo News reported.
"Intra-party elections can divert the attention of candidates and voters from the general elections," the report quoted the PTI chief.
Former prime minister Imran's party held an intra-party election last year on the directions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, its result, which some disgruntled PTI workers challenged, was annulled after a bitter court battle. Subsequently, the top electoral body deprived the party of its iconic cricket bat symbol.
The party has fielded independent candidates for the next week's elections.
Incarcerated Imran and his party members have been facing numerous hurdles in Pakistan ahead of the general elections.
On Tuesday, top party leaders Imran and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were sentenced to 10 years in prison by a special court for leaking sensitive state secrets. The former prime minister is already serving a three-year jail term after being convicted of corruption.
An accountability court sentenced Imran and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case on Wednesday. The couple was also barred from holding any public office for ten years and slapped with a fine of Rs 787 million each.
