RAWALPINDI: Internal differences over nominations for local government (LG) elections in December have led to speculations among PTI members that they will see a repeat of April’s cantonment board polls.

The Imran Khan-led party was clean bowled by PML-N in the polls amid internal differences when they failed to secure a single seat out of 20 in Rawalpindi and Chaklala, even though they had made seat-to-seat adjustments with other opposition parties. (Seat-to-seat adjustments were made for December 3 LG polls. In the cantonment board election, the party fielded its own workers in all the 20 seats).

Senior party members fear they will face the same results in the December elections if these internal differences were not solved, especially in 20 union councils of NA-56 constituency.

A senior PTI leader told Dawn the party had not formed a parliamentary board to select candidates and award tickets for NA-56 which is Imran Khan’s constituency and NA-55, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed’s constituency.

The party member added that in all other constituencies in Punjab the board had selected the candidates - even in NA-52 Potohar Town areas and all the six tehsils of Rawalpindi district.

He said: “Under party rules a parliamentary board consisting of sitting and former MNAs and MPAs, party ticket holders, and a party leader who is elected town or district nazim can decide who to give a party ticket to.”

However, the PTI leader said, these arrangements were not made for these two constituencies and now some party workers, who had been running its campaigns but were not given party tickets, were going to contest the elections as independents, which will ‘destroy party results’.

Another party leader from NA-56, who asked to remain anonymous, said PTI had recruited a new organiser for NA-56, but senior leaders and candidates from these union councils said they had no confidence in him.

“The new organiser gave permission to newcomers to start their election campaigns under the PTI banner even though they have not been given tickets yet. This did not settle well with some members,” the party leader said.

He continued that “some 22 party workers held a meeting at Gul Zareen Bhatti’s house last week and decided to contest the elections independently. They agreed to join the party again if they won.”

Gul Zareen Bhatti, former nazim from Union council No 25, said: “The new organiser for NA-56 is giving out party tickets and sidelining those who were given the ticket for the local government elections that were earlier scheduled in January 2014.

However the Supreme Court had postponed the elections till the issue of UCs’ delimitation was sorted out.

Mr Bhatti added: “I was given the party’s ticket for the LG elections that were to be held in January last year. When the polls were postponed I, along with other ticket holders, still ran the campaign and participated in PTI protests in front of Parliament House.

“ I was still sidelined and my opponent was awarded the ticket, who has since put up PTI banners and flags featuring pictures of the new organiser.”

He said the party had not informed its workers of this new development.

“If we had known, we would not have wasted our time and money campaigning for these elections since last year.

“When the party needed us, they asked for our support in staging protests. Now, they are overlooking us and those who have not put in any work, including the organiser, were given tickets.”

Imran Hayat, former nazim of Satellite town and a PTI candidate from NA-56, said the party was not respecting its hard working senior members.

“I don’t understand why a parliamentary board was not formed for this constituency. The control of the party has been handed over to people who came from Jamaat-i-Islami, who even nominated a mayor well before the polls.”

Former district president and PTI MPA Arif Abbasi told Dawn the candidates who were awarded tickets in 2014 had put in a lot of hard work.

“The party should acknowledge their work and retain their tickets.”

Mr Abbasi said because he was a sitting MPA and a former district president, he should have been asked to help with candidate selection.

“The party went against its own policies when they did not consult me”.

On the other hand, Naeemul Haq, spokesperson for the PTI chairman, said there were no internal conflicts and that decisions about awarding tickets will be made after consultations with other members.

“We will announce party tickets for Rawalpindi in a few days,” he added.

Published in Dawn, October 17th , 2015

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