Assure that you will not leave party after denial of ticket, PTI directs aspiring candidates

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has sought a written assurance from applicants for party tickets that they will not join other parties in case they are refused the tickets for the forthcoming elections.

The party has asked all those who have applied for party tickets to submit assurances to not oppose the party decision on the allocation of tickets, in the wake of mass inclusions.

All applicants who seek to contest elections for provincial or national assembly seats have submitted their affidavits to the party office on stamp paper worth Rs100 stating they would not oppose the party decision or leave the PTI or start a campaign against its candidates.

A senior leader of the party told a leading daily that the decision was made to avoid grouping in the party.

“We submitted the affidavit to the party along with Rs50,000 fee for a provincial assembly ticket and Rs100,000 for a ticket for the National Assembly,” he said.

However, another leader had a different opinion on the matter and expressed that assurances in writing would not be effective as the party was divided into three or four groups in main cities such as Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Dawn News reported.

The situation in Rawalpindi is grave owing to the fact that besides PTI’s candidates, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed is also contesting from the city.

The party has started interviewing candidates and in Punjab north, the party conducted interviews of more than 382 aspiring candidates from the eight districts from Sargodha to Attock, including the twin cities.

PTI has constituted a five-member committee led by PTI Punjab north President Amir Kiani to conduct interviews of the candidates. It comprises Attaullah Shadikhel, Haroon Hashmi, Qazi Ahmed Akbar and Raja Tariq.

The committee will send its report to the parliamentary board regarding basic information about the candidates and their loyalty towards the party. If the candidate comes from another party, the report will also contain past allegations against them.

Meanwhile, there are also reports that the candidates from Lahore have refused to appear before the parliamentary board led by Aleem Khan, saying a new board should be constituted.