MANSEHRA: The local PTI leadership has claimed that the party is ready to withdraw election nomination of two women in Mansehra’s PK-30 and PK-34 constituencies if the aspirants bury the hatchet and come up with consensus candidates from among them.

“On behalf of our party’s parliamentary board, which has named Maria Fatima in PK-30 and Zahida Sabeel in PK-34, I ask all aspirants to come up with unanimous candidates instead of these women nominees. A meeting will be called after Eid to persuade them for it,” PTI district general secretary Shahid Rafiq told reporters here.

Mr Rafiq said PTI Senator Azam Khan Swati had no role in the ‘denial’ of tickets to aspirants.

Leader pushes aspirants for naming consensus candidates

He said some people were busy propagating against party leaders on the matter without knowing the actual situation.

The PTI leader, however, said the women’s nomination for PK-30 and PK-34 elections was a right step in the right direction.

“If we won’t provide women workers with the chance to contest elections on general seats, then how will the country have true democracy?”

DROWNED: A 10-year-old boy drowned in the Indus on Thursday.

Mohammad Qadir had gone to the river along with family.

The divers failed to fish out the body.

Four women had drowned the Indus in Batara Kohistan area on Wednesday. Search for the bodies is still under way.

RESIGNATIONS: Several councillors have resigned as members of Mansehra’s district and tehsil councils to contest national and provincial assembly elections.

District councillors Ahmad Sheryar Khan, Naeem Sakhi, Mohammad Ilyas, Shafahat Ali and Tahir Shah submitted resignations to the convener of district council and tehsil nazim Khurram Khan Swati and councillor Nadar Khan to the tehsil council’s convener.

The lawyers have earlier approached the returning officer challenging the nomination papers of an election candidate for not resigning as tehsil councillor.

Meanwhile, PML-N and PTI have begun efforts to install own government in Mansehra tehsil following the resignation of nazim Khurram Swati to contest general elections.

The PML-N members in tehsil council, including Mian Abrar Hussain, Raja Ayaz, Asad Ali Shah and others met here to discuss the situation after Swati’s resignation, but failed to develop consensus about their nominee for the vacant post.

The PTI, too, is struggling to name its contender for the vacancy and has called a meeting on June 17 to discuss the matter.

EID BONUS: The Hazara University has paid more than 300 lower staff members Rs2,000 each as Eid bonus. Among these employees are drivers and peons.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2018