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Thursday March 28, 2024

Four KP PTI nominees for Senate polls have special clouts

ISLAMABAD: Of the candidates fielded by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the March 5 Senate elections for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) seats, at least four nominees have special attributes, clouts and connections.Mrs Sabina Abid is the wife of KP Chief Secretary Squadron Leader (R) Abid Ali and sister of Prince Salahuddin,

By Tariq Butt
February 14, 2015
ISLAMABAD: Of the candidates fielded by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the March 5 Senate elections for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) seats, at least four nominees have special attributes, clouts and connections.
Mrs Sabina Abid is the wife of KP Chief Secretary Squadron Leader (R) Abid Ali and sister of Prince Salahuddin, who is a former member of the National Assembly.Abid Ali was inducted in the civilian bureaucracy from the Pakistan Air Force by Nawaz Sharif during his previous stint as prime minister on the recommendation of Prince Salahuddin, who, at the time, was associated with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He later left this party. Since long, he is losing election from his native area of KP.
Mohsin Aziz, another PTI nominee, is a fabulously rich leading industrialist and also owns a famous match factory in Peshawar. He is a prominent leader of the KP chamber of commerce and industry.
He is brother of former KP Chief Secretary Khalid Aziz, who was once arraigned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), but was acquitted by the Supreme Court. Mohsin Aziz belongs to the rival group of Bilours in the KP chamber.
Noman Wazir is another wealthy industrialist, sponsored by the PTI in the Senate election. He also owns steel mills in Peshawar and Muridke near Lahore. His wife was a caretaker minister long time ago. Besides, he has a large real estate in Peshawar and is a well educated person.
Syed Shibli Faraz is the son of illustrious poet Ahmad Faraz. He builds elite houses in Islamabad along with Ali Asghar, son of Air Marshal (R) Asghar Khan, who is also affiliated with the PTI.
Rabia Basri heads the Women Wing of the PTI in KP and is among its founding members.Fauzia Kasuri, who specifically transferred her vote from Punjab to the KP to qualify for the PTI ticket from this province, was ignored due to stiff opposition from the provincial branch of the party. She registered herself as a voter at his sprawling Nathiagali (Abbottabad). Last time, she stood knocked out to get the PTI ticket for the National Assembly for having dual nationality. She quit it but still could not get the sponsorship.
Another major dropout was Azam Swati, who had openly expressed his strong opposition to award of tickets to ‘outsiders’.Of the two minority candidates, one is a retired brigadier while the other is a retired colonel.The PTI did a lot of homework before giving tickets. Chairman Imran Khan presided more than one meeting to deliberate on the issue.