PTI youngsters protest ‘unfair’ distribution of tickets

ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR: Young Pakistan Tehreek Insaf workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa staged a protest Tuesday against the ‘unfair’ distribution of party tickets without consideration for merit.

Uzair Wazir and Roghani, who had submitted nomination papers for both the KP Assembly and NA elections, visited the party’s Central Secretariat in Islamabad along with their supporters. They expressed their dissatisfaction with the ‘unfair distribution of tickets’, which they claimed went against the directives given by the party’s founder Imran Khan.

Speaking to the media at the Central Secretariat, both party members alleged that decisions were being made by the same regional office-bearers who were assigned roles 10 years ago. They criticised the preference given to favorites over loyal party members. They claimed that decisions were being made arbitrarily, without interviews or scrutiny of the candidates’ credentials. They alleged that party tickets were being sold for Rs40 million.

Roghani, who had filed nomination papers for PK-55 and NA-22, announced the withdrawal of his candidature, saying that contesting polls held no purpose if justice could not be achieved for others. He asserted that he represented around 500 supporting candidates, emphasizing the demand for justice and the fair distribution of tickets based on merit.

Uzair Wazir, a founding member of the Insaf Youth Wing and Insaf Student Federation, highlighted Imran Khan’s directive that 25pc of party tickets should be allocated to the youth. He urged senior party leader Gohar Ali Khan to ensure that tickets are awarded to the party’s youth under Imran Khan’s instructions.

In a related development, PTI’s senior leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan sounded optimistic about getting the election symbol “bat” back, based on the Peshawar High Court judgment. However, he maintained that the party was committed to accepting and following the court’s judgment in the matter.

Talking to the media outside the Peshawar High Court after a five-hour hearing, he expected a court ruling on Wednesday as other parties would complete their arguments.

About the possibility of joining hands with other parties, he said that at present, there was no alliance with any political party. He made it clear that lawyers also had their share and they would also be awarded party tickets to contest elections.

He explained that they and the Election Commission of Pakistan had completed arguments. He outlined a strategy where only candidates, who are allocated tickets, would contest elections, while others would withdraw in their support. He said that consultation had been completed about party tickets but a news conference on party tickets was cancelled.

To a question, he maintained that his party would contest the elections and none would be able to stop “the sea of people” and the difference of victory would not be of 19-20pc but a massive difference.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat said the PTI had ignored the lawyers and youth in awarding party tickets for the forthcoming general polls.

“In Punjab, a large number of lawyers have been given PTI tickets for contesting elections but the situation is different in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as most lawyers affiliated with the party had been ignored,” he told reporters on the premises of the Peshawar High Court.

He said that he had endorsed the statement of Qazi Muhammad Anwar as the lawyers affiliated with the Insaf Lawyers Forum had rendered services and sacrifices for the party and its leaders.

“I will meet the party founder and take the issue of distribution of tickets with him. Hopefully, he will resolve the issue,” he maintained.

Marwat said that he had no differences with PTI leader and former minister Atif Khan as he had no issue with the provincial organization of the party. He made it clear that he had issues with the central organization of PTI, perhaps, they did not like him because of his popularity. He said that PTI leader Arbab Sher Ali had differences with him since long.