LAHORE – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf issued its party ticket to former minister of state Dr Shahzad Waseem on Monday for contesting the upcoming by-election on a vacant Senate seat from Punjab.
The ticket was issued days after Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar resigned to take the oath as governor Punjab.
Soon after his nomination, Dr Waseem thanked the prime minister on his official Twitter account for nominating him as the party candidate.
https://twitter.com/dswpti/status/1041618345848659968
Dr Waseem is a senior PTI member and has served as an advisor to Imran Khan on foreign political parties’ relations. He was elected senator on the PML-Q ticket from 2002 to 2008 and also served as minister of state for interior in former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s cabinet.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is yet to announce the schedule for the election in which members of the Punjab Assembly will cast their votes, with a sizeable majority of PTI members in the house.
Chaudhry Sarwar was the only senator elected on the PTI ticket in March this year, surprising the political commentators and rivals alike by securing the maximum number of 44 votes among the victorious candidates belonging to PML-N.
Chaudhry Sarwar’s win prompted PML-N to allege that the PTI candidate had used the money to secure his victory though Sarwar denied such charges and instead highlighted his PR skills as a reason for the victory.
Given the party’s position in Punjab, it seems that Dr Waseem will easily win the seat as the party and its allies hold a majority in the assembly.
Besides Waseem, PTI has also awarded party ticket to Shahzad Qureshi for the by-election on a Sindh Assembly seat for PS-111, Karachi.
The seat was relinquished by Imran Ismael when he took charge as governor Sindh.
