Peshawar:
Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) found himself in the middle of a growing internal crack on Saturday when the candidates of the rebel Senate rejected the ‘diktat’ of the party to withdraw their nomination documents, promising instead dispute the surveys of July 21 in open challenge of an agreement consensus backed by the opposition.
The development occurred when the government and the opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reached a rare unit of unity to guarantee the victory of 11 Senate candidates agreed in a movement to put aside the rebels of the party.
PTI’s political committee, gathered on Saturday night, supported an agreement shared with the opposition and reaffirmed the list of official candidates issued by the founder of the Imran Khan party.
However, the measure has caused a violent reaction of margin candidates, who accuse the leadership of capitulating what they call a “agreement sponsored by the establishment.”
Despite the directive of retiring, five rebel candidates, including Irfan Salem, Khurram Zishan, Waqas Orakzai, former Irshad Hussain and Aisha Bano, remained firm after internal consultations.
In public statements and video messages, they declared that they would not be inclined to what they alleged that they were “political convenience” and “closed doors commitments.”
“This has gone far beyond the Senate’s elections,” said Khurram Zishan in a challenging message. “We are asked to deliver our trust to the same people who imprisoned our workers, tortured our elders and stole our mandate through form 47. We reject the political wheels and the treatment. We are not playing politics … We are fighting resistance.”
The party goes back, the rebels excavate
The political committee of the party, while supporting the hand list of PTI Imran Khan, recognized internal objections, even candidates such as Mishal Yousafzai and Irfan Salem, but said that the founder’s decisions were final.
The committee warned the dissidents who could face disciplinary notices if they did not comply.
PTI’s leadership has given rebel candidates a deadline of 12 noon today to retire. However, dissidents, emboldened by what they claim are 20 MPa in contact with them, seem without flinching.
Irfan Salem accused PTI’s leadership of forming an “impious alliance” to install candidates backed by the establishment.
“We will not allow this stain in a legislature built in the name of Imran Khan,” he said. “Our resistance is not personal, it is ideological.”
Aisha Bano said that the seats in the Senate were “a confidence given by the party workers and Khan himself,” and that they would not be delivered to those who “stole our mandate.”
“This is not just another choice … it is the first line of a movement,” he said.
Government, the opposition joins strength to exclude the rebels
Meanwhile, the sources confirmed that the Government and the opposition in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have reached a rare unit of unity to guarantee the victory of 11 Senate candidates agreed in a movement to put aside the rebels of PTI.
Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and opposition leader, Dr. Ibadullah, will jointly supervise the formation and coordination of seven special voting panels.
Four of these will be supervised by provincial ministers, and the remaining three managed by parliamentary leaders of the opposition.
According to the plan, the Government MPA will meet in the CM Chamber and will be sent in groups to cast votes under ministerial supervision. The opposition parliamentarians will follow a similar strategy.
Each panel will receive instructions to vote for specific general candidates, women and technocrats. Cooperation includes a mechanism of responsibility, with both parties in agreement to investigate whether the votes slide towards the rebel candidates.
A backup plan was discussed, which implies delaying the elections or swearing in the new MPA, but finally reserved due to the lack of consensus.
The higher PTI leaders are expected to be present at the assembly during the vote, as are the key opposition figures. The sources within the opposition expressed their confidence in the agreement.
“We are satisfied with the government’s commitment. All eleven candidates should win without problems if the agreement is maintained,” they said.
