Senate election: 'No parachuter to make it to Senate'

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday assured the PTI members that he respected their wishes and would ensure that no ‘parachuter’ was elected as senator.

He was chairing an emergency meeting of the PTI parliamentary board after the party workers objected to the distribution of tickets for the Senate elections.

Sources said the premier consulted the party leaders on the issue of tickets in the board meeting and indicated that some decision might be changed. PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter objected to the nomination of Najibullah Khattak, while PTI Sindh said they had a problem with the selection of Faisal Vawda and Saifullah Abro. The prime minister emphasized that all tickets would be issued on merit.

The final decision on distribution of tickets is expected to be taken within the next 24 hours. The award of tickets to Faisal Vawda construction tycoon Saifullah Abro has created a rift among PTI Sindh leaders and they have conveyed their reservations to Sindh Governor Imran Ismail in a letter.

Earlier, the PTI central leadership withdrew the Balochistan Senate ticket from business tycoon Abdul Qadir after backlash and issued it to Zahoor Agha. Encouraged by the Balochistan fiasco, key party leaders from three zones of rural Sindh approached the governor on Sunday to show their anger and demand the party’s high command to take back tickets from Vawda and Abro.

In the letter, PTI office-bearers from three regions said they were “extremely disappointed with the entire process” of selection of PTI's candidates for the Senate polls. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday directed his economic team to suggest out-of-box solutions for reducing the burden of indirect taxes on the masses and also to ensure balance between state revenue and expenditure.

The prime minister directed the finance minister to minutely look into wheat procurement process and various administrative costs that were contributing towards raising the prices of wheat. This he said while chairing a meeting on the steps to bring down prices of essential commodities.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers, advisors, SAPMs and senior government officials. Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez apprised the prime minister that a comprehensive and efficient plan was being prepared for wheat procurement and rationalization of administrative costs involved in the process.

SAPM Dr Waqar Masood briefed the prime minister about duty structure on imported edible oil and pulses, etc and presented a comparative analysis with other regional countries. The prime minister said his foremost priority was to provide maximum relief to the poor segments of the society.

“Every effort should be made to lessen the burden of indirect taxes and provide relief to people. Discussing wheat and flour prices, the prime minister directed that every single penny being spent on unnecessary administrative expenditures must be saved.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Atif Khan met the prime minister. Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan were present in the meeting which discussed the current political situation and Senate elections.

Separately, the members of National Assembly from Peshawar and Malakand met the prime minister. They included Junaid Akbar, Noor Alam Khan, Arbab Amir Ayub, Sher Ali Arbab and Shaukat Ali. Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry and Member of Provincial Assembly Khurram Sohail Khan Leghari called on the prime minister.

Leghari briefed the prime minister on issues related to his constituency. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday shared good news from industrial sector, showing sustained growth while large-scale manufacturing saw another double digit growth in December 2020.

In tweets, the prime minister wrote, “Good news from industrial sector also, showing sustained growth. Large-scale manufacturing saw another double digit growth month in December 2020 — 11.4% growth vs Dec 2019. Cumulative July to Dec growth above 8% now”.

About remittances, he said remittances from overseas Pakistanis were $2.27b in January, up 19% over January 2020 — 8th consecutive month of remittances above $2b.

“To date in this fiscal year remittances are up 24% compared to last yr. This is a record for our country and I thank our overseas Pakistanis,” he said.