Imran 'in the dark' about ticket allocations

Incarcerated former PM claims he was not consulted about tickets despite court permissions

RAWALPINDI:

Amid internal criticism over ‘controversial’ ticket allocations, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan on Saturday revealed he was kept in the dark and was not consulted about the matter despite court permissions.

The former PTI chairman, who is behind the bars, made the revelations during his interaction with party workers who aired their grievances about the ticket distribution.

In response to questions regarding the contentious ticket distribution, Imran said: "I don't know who got the ticket and who didn't."

He went on to explain that he was not given the opportunity to provide input on the distribution, adding that how could he verbally decide on 850 tickets.

The fissures within the party became glaringly apparent as reports emerged of the former ruling party allegedly sidelining merit and favouring former lawmakers and influential personalities in the ticket distribution process.

The discontent among party members reached a boiling point, with dozens of leaders and supporters from the PTI Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chapter staging a protest earlier this month.

The protest aimed at condemning what they labelled as the "sale of party tickets" in K-P, expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of consideration for merit.

Upon Imran’s arrival at the courtroom for the hearing on Saturday, the party workers began expressing their concerns about the ticket distribution and was informed that a candidate nominated for a special seat from NA-57 was also expressing a desire to contest the general seat.

Meanwhile, party’s Taxila tehsil President Ali Khan disclosed the registration of 16 cases against him. Similarly, a worker representing NA-105 lamented about being denied party ticket, while Engineer Iftikhar from NA-57 also voiced his complaint about not being allocated a ticket.

Withdrawal of tickets

Meanwhile, Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, a member of Imran's legal team, said he conveyed the workers' concerns about the controversial ticket allotments.

Taking to his social media handle, Marwat conveyed that Imran had announced the withdrawal of disputed tickets in response to the growing discontent within the party ranks.

Earlier, talking to journalists in jail, the former premier said that the legal battle for the party’s election symbol, the ‘bat’, is currently ongoing in the Supreme Court.

He alleged that the symbol was taken away to weaken the party and prevent it from participating in elections.

“I will fight till the end despite challenges.”

Regarding his decision not to support former PTI ally Sheikh Rashid, he explained that he established a clear rule: individuals who held news conferences against the party would not receive a ticket.

He pointed out that although he advocated for negotiations 18 months ago, the current dilemma raised questions about whom to negotiate with and for what reasons.

He reiterated that the only acceptable negotiation was for fair and transparent elections in the country.

On resignations of Justice Muhammad Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ijazul Ahsan from the Supreme Court, he noted that there were concerns over the departure of two judges from the apex court.

“Let’s see what stance the Supreme Court takes on the matter.”

Asked about his frequently mentioning former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and whether he considered former DG ISI Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed as an accused too, Imran asserted that the army was not a political party, adding that the “the orders come from above made by a single man”.

In response to inquiries about foreign contacts, Imran clarified that neither any foreign ambassador nor the establishment had reached out to him.

Imran lamented that in 2018, his party faced a setback as its seats were reduced.

“We lost 15 seats by a slim margin of 3,000 votes, and the failure of the Results Transmission System (RTS) was a big blow for us.”

Talking about his article published in a foreign journal, the former prime minister explained that the content in the journal was verbally dictated to the lawyers.

Taking a jab at the PML-N supremo and his arch-rival, the PTI founder claimed: “I am well aware of Nawaz Sharif’s politics. He never engaged in matches without ‘two umpires’ and has returned to Pakistan with assurance under the London plan.”

Imran bemoaned that the principles of law and justice were being ridiculed, pointing out that there seemed to be no scrutiny of cases involving Maryam Nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif, and Asif Zardari.