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KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is facing a severe rift after the nomination of Federal Minister Faisal Vawda and wealthy constructor Saifullah Abro for the Senate elections from Sindh.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has reached Karachi on Monday morning to resolve the differences regarding the nominations. He is expected to meet PTI elected representatives and solve their grievances over the nominations for the Senate polls. Qureshi has reached Karachi on the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The party’s decision has generated criticism from leaders in Sindh who wrote a letter to Governor Sindh Imran Ismail showing their displeasure and demanded the party’s leadership to withdraw tickets from Vawda and Abro.
The PTI Sindh leaders said in their letter that they were disappointed with the names of the Senate candidates. The letter said that Faisal Vawda should also not be a candidate for the Senate. They said if Faisal Vawda becomes ineligible, then the seat will be in jeopardy, while Abro has NAB cases against him and has been in the party for barely two years.
The leaders have also initiated a campaign to pressurise the party’s parliamentary committee to review its decision of allocating tickets. In the letter, the PTI’s office-bearers from three regions said that they were “extremely disappointed with the entire process” of the selection of party’s candidates for the Senate polls from the province.
The PTI leaders asked the party leadership not to consider Vawda as a candidate for the Senate. “If he is deseated from his National Assembly seat, the party should nominate him from the constituency. If he is disqualified and not allowed to contest, the party will risk a seat.”
While showing severe concerns over finalising Abro for the Senate on technocrat seat, the PTI leaders asked how the Senate ticket was given to a newcomer in the party and alleged that cases against Abro have been pending in the NAB.
The PTI leaders asked to review the allocation of the Senate tickets from Sindh and said that the decision will harm the party in the upcoming local government polls.
The leaders who signed the letter included Sadaqat Ali Jatoi (brother of former Sindh chief minister Liaquat Jatoi), Sukkur district president Mubeen Jatoi, Allah Bux Unnar and Raja Khan Jhakrani, former provincial secretary general Mehfooz Usrani, a former candidate from NA-214 Shaheed Benazirabad Gul Muhammad Rind, Agha Taimoor Khan Pathan, Papu Khan Chachar and other office-bearers.
