ISLAMABAD
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced names of 10 candidates from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for the Senate elections scheduled for March 5.
The party has issued tickets to Mohsin Aziz, Shibli Faraz, Fazal Muhammad Khan and Barrister Salman Afridi on general seats. For technocrat seats, the party has issued tickets to Nouman Wazir and Latif Yousafzai. For minority seats, the party has issued tickets to Brig (r) John Kenneth William and Ravi Kumar, a decision that has not gone down well with the party’s Christian supporters as William is not a PTI member and has made no political contribution to the party or province.
The party said that it had received a total of 131 applications including 80 for general seats and 51 for technocrats’ seats for the Senate polls. Tickets were issued to the candidates on the basis of competency after a thorough scrutiny of applications, the party added.
KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s sister-in-law Nafisa had also submitted an application but the party refused her a ticket.
A source said that the party’s parliamentary board had included names of PTI KP President Azam Sawati and party’s KP General Secretary Khalid Masod but later their names were withdrawn after differences emerged in the party over the selection.
Meanwhile, a like-minded group in PTI has opposed the party’s decision to issue a ticket to the father of KP Health Minister Shehram Tarkai and Awami Jamhoori Itehad leader Liaquat Tarkai.
The group said that Tarkai should first merge his party with PTI as he had promised earlier, before any ticket was issued to him.