A number of PTI legislators publicly challenged the nomination of some of the party candidates for the Senate elections. It was maintained by the critics that these nominations were made in violation of merit. Federal Minister Faisal Vawda was issued a party ticket for fear that he might be disqualified as MNA by the court for lying about his nationality while submitting nomination papers for 2018 polls.
This was clearly a case of moral turpitude that a party claiming high moral ground could not condone. The two moneybags who had recently joined the party were also awarded tickets. This amounted to preferring money over merit. Bitter opposition from the Balochistan chapter of the PTI led to the replacement of business tycoon Abdul Qadir by Mr Zahoor Agha soon after the announcement. The party however retained all others till the time for nominations was over on Monday.
There was opposition in the PTI’s KP chapter against the nomination of Najibullah Khattak and Faisal Saleem on the ground that they lacked competence and had a bad reputation. A delegation of outspoken PTI MNAs had also called upon the PM. In Sindh two MNAs went public, one against Mr Vawda and the other against Federal Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, confirming that they would in no case vote for them. In Sindh party units threatened not to cooperate in local government elections if Mr Vawda’s name was not dropped.
