Some of the workers also questioned the selection of Mushahidullah Khan and Nehal Hashmi, who belong to Karachi.
Talking to The Express Tribune, party workers complained about lack of representation of several divisions of the province. They said five tickets had been awarded to workers from Rawalpindi division while no worker from the southern districts had been selected.
Parliamentary Board member Raja Zafarul Haq played down the concerns, saying that the list had been compiled after extensive deliberations.
PML-N’s candidates for the seven general seats from the Punjab are Pervaiz Rashid, Mushahidullah Khan, Chaudhary Tanveer, Lt General (retd) Abdul Qayyum, Ghaus Niazi, Dr Asif Kirmani and Nehal Hashmi. Professor Sajid Mir of the Jamiat Ahle Hadith and PML-N’s Raja Zafarul Haq have been awarded tickets for the election on two technocrats’ seats, and Begam Najma Hameed and Kiran Dar for the two women seats. Some of the party workers The Express Tribune talked to expressed surprise at the selection of five candidates from Rawalpindi division.
Some of the workers also questioned the selection of Mushahidullah Khan and Nehal Hashmi, who belong to Karachi. They said if was unfair to the party workers in the Punjab.
Others objected to the nomination of Professor Sajid Mir who heads his own party. They said General Qayuum too was not a member of the party and had supported General Pervaiz Musharraf’s government. Dr Asif Kirmani is political secretary to the prime minister and his personal assistant, they said.
Parliamentary Board member Raja Zafarul Haq played down the objections. He said the board had ensured a balance in representation of various regions. He said Rafique Rajwana and Zulfiqar Ali Khosa from south Punjab already represented the party in the Senate.
He said outgoing senator Jaffar Iqbal was not given a ticket because two of his children were sitting parliamentarians.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2015.
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