Rifts mar PTI’s allotment of Senate tickets

PM takes notice, says candidates will be selected on merit

ISLAMABAD:

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf faced criticism from party cadres over awarding of Senate tickets due to which it failed to finalise the list of candidates despite Monday being the last day for the submission of nomination papers with the ECP.

Taking notice of the matter, Prime Minister Imran Khan convened an emergency meeting of the parliamentary committee on Monday.

During the meeting, Premier Imran hinted at a change in tickets and said they “will be given on merit”.

“We respect the wishes of the party workers,” PM Imran told senior party leaders. “No parachuter will be made a senator. I will decide after investigating the allegations against the four persons myself.”

According to the sources, Senate tickets are likely to be withdrawn from some PTI nominees.

The premier has cancelled all his meetings for Tuesday and called another parliamentary committee meeting to review the decision of giving tickets to some candidates from Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The PTI Sindh chapter voiced concerns over giving Federal Minister Faisal Vawda and construction contractor Saifullah Abro Senate tickets, while the K-P chapter against Najiullah Khattak, a businessman, and Faisal Saleem, a party worker.

In a letter to Sindh Governor Imran Ismael, the PTI leaders raised objections to the issuance of Senate tickets, saying their candidate should be nominated.

“We want to meet you and let you know the names [of the candidates]. General seat should be given to a person belonging to Sindh …. Faisal Vawda should not be a candidate,” the letter stated.

They expressed their reservations that Vawda possesses dual nationality and if disqualified from his National Assembly seat, “the party should nominate him from the constituency”.

“If he is disqualified and not allowed to contest, the party will risk a seat which will make no sense.”

They warned that if the decision was not reconsidered, they  would distance themselves from the local government elections.

Showing severe concerns over finalising Abro for the technocrat seat, the PTI leaders asked, “How the Senate ticket was given to a newcomer in the party.”

They alleged that cases against Abro, who has still been working closely with the Pakistan Peoples Party leadership, have been pending in the National Accountability Bureau.

The leaders who signed the letter included Sadaqat Ali Jatoi, who is also the brother of former Sindh chief minister Liaquat Jatoi, Sukkur district President Mubeen Jatoi, former provincial minister Agha Taimoor Khan and others.

Sources said that senior leaders of Karachi, including Hunaid Lakhani, Ashraf Qureshi, Maulvi Mahmood and others have been ignored in the Senate election process.

Talking to the media after submitting nomination papers for the Senate’s general seat in the Election Commission of Pakistan, the federal minister for water resources said that there is no insurgency in the party.

“There are always differences at home.”

Earlier, after submitting nomination papers, the returning officer (RO) told Vawda that he would have to come for scrutiny on February 18 at 12 noon. Further, K-P based MNAs met Imran at PM House and apprised him of their reservations against giving Senate tickets to Khattak and Saleem.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the PTI sources said that MNAs Haji Shaukat Ali, Junid Akbar, Noor Alam Khan, Arbab Amir Ayub and Sher Ali Arbab called on the PM Imran Khan and discussed the matter with him in great detail.

“Some of the MNAs are blaming that they had not been taken into confidence before deciding party candidates which is not the right way and others have reservations about specific candidates who have been given party tickets,” sources said.

The ECP said that at least 170 candidates submitted their nomination papers with ROs for contesting election on Senate vacant seats to be held on March 3. According to an official of ECP, 29 candidates have filed their nomination papers from Punjab, 39 from Sindh, 51 from K-P, 41 from Balochistan and 10 from the federal capital.

As many as 40 nomination papers have been submitted for women’s seats while 10 for non-Muslim and 33 nomination papers have been submitted for technocrat seats and Ulema seats besides 87 for general seats.

He said that the commission had extended the date for filing nomination papers for Senate election from February 13 to February 15 on written and verbal requests from various forums to facilitate the candidates.

He said that the ECP had appointed five ROs for Islamabad and the four provinces. He said that the polling will be held on March 3 on 48 seats, two in Islamabad, 11 each in Punjab and Sindh, and 12 each in K-P and Balochistan that will fall vacant on the expiration of the term of the members.

He said that the polling would be held from 9am to 5pm simultaneously in the Parliament House, Islamabad, and provincial assembly buildings in Punjab, Sindh, K-P and Balochistan.

A public notice has already been issued by the ROs for inviting nomination papers.

The nominated candidates will be announced on February 16, while the date for scrutiny of nomination papers will be February 17 and 18. (WITH INPUT FROM APP, OUR CORRESPONDENTS IN KARACHI AND PESHAWAR)