Marwat States Imran Khan To Retract Contentious Election Tickets

Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, a member of the legal team representing the incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan, conveyed the workers’ concerns regarding the contentious distribution of party tickets to the PTI founder. In a post on X, he mentioned that Khan had announced the withdrawal of controversial tickets for the upcoming General Election in 2024, scheduled for February 8.

The distribution of PTI tickets for both national and provincial assembly seats triggered a significant controversy within the party, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). In KP, some party leaders aspiring to become the Chief Minister were denied tickets for provincial seats but were assigned tickets for National Assembly (NA) seats.

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There were reports indicating that certain influential contenders for the Chief Minister’s position were given NA seats to potentially pave the way for Ali Amin Gandapur as the Chief Minister of KP if the party emerges victorious in the elections.

Prominent party leaders such as Asad Qasier, Atif Khan, Shah Farman, Shahram Tarakai, Junaid Khan, and Sheheryar Khan Afridi reportedly did not receive tickets for KP Assembly seats. Instead, they were directed by the party to contest elections solely for NA seats.

These leaders protested, citing their seniority in the party and expressing discontent over not being consulted during the ticket allocation process. They collectively conveyed a message to the PTI founder and chairman, Imran Khan, expressing their lack of confidence in the ticket allocation exercise.

A day prior to this development, the PTI had announced its candidates for all 266 National Assembly seats across Pakistan. However, several constituencies were marked as ‘pending,’ primarily due to disagreements over naming the candidates.