Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has announced that he will be reviewing the complaints of candidates who missed out on receiving tickets for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
This comes after supporters of some aspirants began protesting the decision to award tickets for their constituencies. Over 80% of tickets have been handed over to deserving candidates, but there are disputes on around 20% of seats, with up to 10 candidates having submitted nomination papers for some constituencies.
The PTI has received around 1,500 applications for 297 constituencies, with tickets awarded to 285 candidates, but decisions on 12 seats are still pending. Following the award of tickets, the PTI constituted four reconciliation committees to recommend an adjustment in the list of candidates.
These committees have now been converted into “review committees” to hear the candidates’ grievances and forward their recommendations to Mr Khan.
The North Punjab review committee is headed by retired Brig Musadiq Abbasi, Central Punjab by Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, West Punjab by Hassan Nawaz and South Punjab by Aon Abbas Bappi. In the final list of candidates, there were several notable exceptions, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, and Hammad Azhar, all of whom were denied tickets.
Fawad Chaudhry expressed his reservations about not being considered for the provincial assembly, and former Punjab minister Murad Raas has also been denied a ticket. The elections to the Punjab Assembly are scheduled to be held later this year.
