Infighting over tickets mars PTI’s election campaign

ISLAMABAD/LONDON/KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is facing serious infighting — including allegations of nepotism and financial corruption — after the distribution of the party tickets for the national and provincial assembly constituencies in connection with the February 8 general elections as fears grow that the lawyers running the party will further run it into the ground.

At least three senior PTI leaders — who spoke on condition of anonymity — said that Khan’s spokesperson Umair Niazi and his sister, Aleema Khan, made decisions about the distribution of tickets.

They said that all major decisions were taken by Niazi and Aleema while the former first lady Bushra Bibi, who has regularly been meeting Khan in Adiala Jail, didn’t have any say in the distribution of tickets.

Trusted sources within the PTI have revealed that many senior leaders from Punjab and KP were completely ignored in allotting tickets to the candidates.

Those who were ignored and bypassed include none other than senior party stalwarts Omar Ayub Khan, Hammad Azhar, Rai Hassan, Kanwal Shauzeb, and several others.

Khan’s sister Aleema, who has been meeting her brother in jail regularly, rejected the allegations made against Niazi by the PTI leaders. She told The News: “Umair Niazi was point person for Punjab and Gohar Ali Khan for KP, Baluchistan and Sindh.”

Aleema said: “Umair Niazi is Imran Khan’s point person. He is the one who is responsible for taking lists to Imran Khan for his decision. And we, Imran Khan’s family, are witness to many of his decisions.”

“Imran khan has also marked with candidate lists with approval or comments. So the people who are making these allegations are basically challenging Imran Khan’s selection. One does not have to think very hard to understand why they would do that?”

Aleema said that Niazi and PTI leader Gohar Khan are the two people Khan has trusted with external communication.

“Therefore we trust them too. Still we do make sure that his guidelines are followed. We will protect him with our life and not let anyone take advantage of his limited communication with the outside world.”

Veteran PTI leaders said it’s a “tragedy” that the PTI has been handed over to some “opportunistic and over-ambitious lawyers” who have no history of any affiliation with the PTI and have jumped on the bandwagon.

The rift is so wide that PTI’s founder has distanced himself from the party tickets distribution, saying that he was unaware.

The trusted PTI sources said it is a reality that PTI stands taken over by ambitious lawyers who are interested only in their own media projection.

Those PTI leaders, who spoke to The News, are currently on the run and on the ground and all shared similar grievances that the way tickets were distributed was nothing but a joke.

The sources said that for the Punjab tickets, PTI Punjab President Hammad Azhar should have been taken into confidence but he was ignored and not consulted at any level.

Several social media accounts affiliated with PTI have made allegations of financial corruption, saying that tens of millions were taken from the PTI candidates. They have said that merit was set aside for the sake of money and tickets were awarded to former lawmakers and influential personalities, at the cost of loyal workers.

The issue is not just confined to Punjab. Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, one of the members of Khan’s legal team, said that he had conveyed workers’ concerns over the controversial allotment of the tickets to the PTI founder. He said he shared his grievances with Khan in the presence of others.

He said: “In Punjab, a handsome number of lawyers have been given PTI tickets for contesting elections but the situation is different in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as most lawyers affiliated with the party had been ignored.”

The sources said, requesting anonymity, that a group in KP led by Ali Amin Gandapur had ignored the party’s most loyal leaders including Asad Qaisar, Ali Mohammad Khan, Atif Khan, Shahram Tarakai, Shah Farman, and Shehryar Afridi.

A source close to Gandapur said he was also not consulted for the allocation of tickets at the national level.

In the entire process, said a source, PTI leader Barrister Gohar had no say.

“Barrister Gohar is a decent but weak person. The founding chairman has continued his policy of appointing weak people under him, such as Usman Buzdar in Punjab and now a lawyer who has no authority.”

Young PTI workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have staged a protest against the unfair distribution of party tickets without consideration for merit.

Uzair Wazir and Saud Shah Roghani alleged before the media that decisions were being made arbitrarily, without interviews or scrutiny of the candidates’ credentials. They alleged that party tickets were being sold for Rs40 million.

PTI spokesperson Raoof Hassan told The News, “These are internal party matters and will be settled”.

Hassan said: “If there are any issues, these will be sorted. We will address any grievances as per rules and regulations.”

On Tuesday, Istehkam-e-Pakistan (IPP) senior leader Imran Ismail claimed that PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke about forming his own group in the Imran Khan-founded party when the former Sindh governor met him in jail.

Ismail, a former PTI politician from Sindh, clarified n X, formerly Twitter, that he met Qureshi at his request while he was in jail.

The former Sindh governor, in his statement, also revealed that he had never asked the former foreign minister to leave the party.

“I met Shah Mahmood Qureshi. I want to state for the record that I never talked to him about leaving PTI,” he wrote on X.

However, Ismail added, that the meeting was “held on the wish of Shah sahib”.

“Shah sahib wanted to form his own group but we excused from supporting,” he added in his post on the social media platform.

Ismail, along with PTI defectors Fawad Chaudhry and Mahmood Molvi — who is IPP Sindh president — met the incarcerated politician when he was in Adiala jail in June 2022.

In a media talk outside the jail after the meeting, Fawad and others maintained that they had made contact with a number of PTI leaders and those who had left the party. There were unconfirmed reports that the visitors tried to convince Qureshi to also part ways with the party.

Qureshi’s son Zain Hussain Qureshi, on the other hand, denied media reports over his father’s meeting with the former PTI leaders in Adiala Jail.

“I deny the impression being given in the media on Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s meeting with former PTI leaders in Adiala Jail today [Wednesday]. Makhdoom Sahib is the vice chairman of the party and the name of an ideology,” he explained.

“We stand with the PTI and Imran Khan’s ideology. Shah Mehmood Qureshi has done politics of principles and service till date and no post or greed can buy Shah Sahib. We were with Imran Khan yesterday and are today as well,” he said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Tuesday backtracked on his decision to abruptly end the poll campaign in Karachi and other parts of the province. He did this after announcing to call off the campaign in the wake of adverse remarks from senior party leaders.

Marwat, PTI’s senior vice-president, took to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to take back his decision on calling off his campaigning in Sindh. “Workers are right and I will continue campaigning for PTI in Sindh. I will not be distracted. At the same time, I urge the PTI workers to deal with all the satanic forces on their own. We have … a public rally in Mahmoodabad and a convention at Pahlwan Goth Karachi,” wrote Marwat on X.

He also posted on X his video message urging the activists, supporters and workers of the PTI to attend in large numbers the rally at Mahmoodabad and the public meeting at Pahlwan Goth. He said the PTI would regain popularity in Sindh through such mass rallies and public meetings in the run-up to the polls.

Earlier in the day, Marwat in his post on X announced his decision to call off the PTI’s campaign in protest against the statements given by PTI’s senior leaders Hamid Khan and Rauf Hassan against him.

“Keeping in view the statements against me by sick-minded people like Hamid Khan and Rauf Hassan, I am calling off my campaign in Sindh. Why these people are targeting me? Did I ever talk against them? I am so disheartened and feel so dejected. We were to hold conventions in Sanghar and Nawabshah … but after being attacked by my own party senior lot, I am cancelling all my programmes and events. Until not settled by (Imran) Khan himself. I will not lead any rally or jalsa. I am leaving Sindh half-finished. Let Hamid Khan and Rauf Hassan muster courage and lead the public. Initially, you tried to take me out of the legal team and now you want me to leave the campaign. I leave the campaign field to you. Show your strength and courage,” wrote Marwat.