The decision comes only a day after the PTI announced tickets for 173 National Assembly (NA) constituencies and 290 tickets for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assemblies.
This was announced yesterday at a meeting of the PTI’s media strategy team, which was presided over by party chairman Imran Khan at his Banigala residence.
The main gripe among party workers from a large number of constituencies in Punjab and KP is that the PTI leadership’s decision to award tickets to those who had joined the PTI after quitting the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).
There have even been reports of protest actions by party members in some places.
Yesterday dozens of party workers from Rawalpindi and some KP areas staged a sit-in in front of the PTI chief’s Banigala residence to protest the party’s decision to award a ticket to a former member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Taxila, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, who hails from Rawalpindi.
In the second phase of awarding tickets, the PTI announced the names of several new candidates.
Prominent among them are former minister of the PPP government Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, former MNA Shaharyar Afridi, and prominent party leader Shaukat Yousufzai.
According to an announcement by the party yesterday, Awan will contest the election on a PTI ticket from NA-72 Sialkot, whereas Afridi will be fielded in Kohat, and Yousufzai in Shangla.
In a major decision, party loyalist Hameeda Shahid has been awarded a ticket to contest the election for a National Assembly constituency in the conservative Upper Dir.
The party said that this was done intentionally – fielding a woman in an area known for barring women from participating in elections.
PTI information secretary Fawad Chaudhry said that reconciliatory committees are being constituted at central, provincial and district levels to take party workers and office-bearers into confidence over decisions taken by the leadership.
Admitting that there are reports of party members expressing their dismay over the selection of candidates, he expressed the hope that the committees would help the party overcome the crisis.
Chaudhry said that differences over the issue among workers are to be expected, as it is not possible to accommodate all aspirants.
He said that the party had fielded “very strong candidates and political heavyweights”, particularly in Punjab.
Responding to a question, Chaudhry said that there are nearly a dozen constituencies in Punjab where there are differences among party workers over the candidates selected by the party leadership.
He agreed that there is more resentment over the distribution of party tickets in KP than in Punjab.
In an attempt to pacify the disgruntled, PTI chairman Imran Khan had on Friday issued a video message, asking them to understand that the party ticket is not everything.
“Today party’s parliamentary board has announced tickets. It was a difficult task to select candidates from among 500 applicants,” he said.
Khan urged party leaders and workers not to get disappointed and to keep their focus on the upcoming polls.
The PTI chief is himself contesting elections from five different constituencies of the National Assembly: NA-53 Islamabad, NA-35 Bannu, NA-95 Mianwali, NA-131 Lahore, and NA-243 Karachi.
When asked about the reason for fielding Khan from five constituencies, Chaudhry said that it is a part of the “campaign strategy”.
He said that when a popular leader contests elections from a key constituency, it motivates workers and activists in adjoining constituencies as well.
When asked about Khan’s decision to not contest election from any constituency in Baluchistan, Chaudhry said that the matter had been discussed in detail, and the PTI leadership decided not to field an outsider since there weren’t enough constituencies in the province.
The PTI official, who will be contesting the polls from Jhelum, said that it is true that the party had given most of the tickets at the national level to experienced and seasoned politicians, but added that a large number of young party workers were given tickets for Provincial Assembly seats.