- Khurram Zeeshan only nominated dissident who refuses to quit smoking.
- Irshad formally requests ECP to eliminate your name from the list.
- Waqas says that his withdrawal does not mean that he has left his ideology.
Peshawar: Four of the five dissident candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) have departed from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senate race, clearing the way for a government opposition agreement to choose nominated without opposition, the party announced early on Monday.
Among the separated PTI Senate candidates, Irfan Salem, Ayesha Bano, Irshad Hussain and Waqas Orakzai have retired from the contest. All had been nominated by the party, but they were supposedly happy with the internal selection process.
Just a nominated, Khurram Zeeshan, has refused to retire.
Irshad Hussain, who had presented documents for Technocrat space, formally wrote to the Pakistan Electoral Commission, asking that his name be removed.
In his letter, he said that the decision was made in line with the instructions of the party leadership and the founder of PTI, Imran Khan.
“I don’t want to compete,” he wrote. “Please, let my name fall on the Senate election list.”
Waqas Orakzai also confirmed his withdrawal, saying that he did not mean that he had moved away from his ideology.
He added that the president of PTI, the lawyer Gohar and the legal advisor Salman Akram Raja had assured him that all the Senate nominees had been approved by the founder of the party.
The Senate vote in KP has been plunged into the internal divisions of the party, with several PTI figures that raise concerns about transparency and selection of candidates.
It is worth noting that 25 members chosen in reserved seats of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly were oath on Sunday.
With the swear of members in reserved seats, the Provincial Assembly is now complete, forming the electoral school required for the Senate elections.
Surveys for 11 seats in the Senate will take place today (July 21), with 25 candidates in the race. PTI’s government and opposition have agreed to jointly present candidates against a discontent PTI nominee.
According to the agreement, six seats will go to the government and five to the opposition.
A total of 145 provincial legislators will cast their votes in the elections.
