PESHAWAR: The appointment of provincial president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf women wing has disappointed many senior workers of the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to insiders.

PTI has appointed Samina Abid as provincial president of its women wing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, insiders said that she was a new face in the party.

The former provincial president of PTI women wing, MPA Naseem Hayat, relinquished his responsibilities when PTI asked its elected representatives to quit party offices.

PTI sources claimed that they set a new trend by holding intra-party elections that forced other parties to follow suit. However, PTI also started nomination of office-bearers on the basis of their wealth, bungalows and contacts with influential people in the party, they alleged.

Nomination of office-bearers on basis of contacts with influential people alleged

The workers are not sure if intra-party elections will be held in the future or not because the past experience had caused rift in the party. Insiders said that six names -- Neelum Toor, Noorin Ibrahim, Asmat Ara Khattak, Farzana Zain, Shaheen Saifullah and Samina Abid -- were sent to the central leadership of the party to replace Ms Hayat as president of women wing in the province.

The workers were expecting that a senior member would be appointed on the seat but Imran Khan chose the last name, they added. Sources said that Neelum Toor was the most suitable worker for the office of PTI women wing provincial president but she was already holding an important seat as head of women commission. The second choice was Farzana Zain for being the senior most, they said, adding she served the party in a befitting manner as its president of Peshawar district.

The insiders said that Asmat Ara Khattak also had cordial relations with media. Those women were also neglected at the time of nomination for reserved seats during the last general elections but despite that they were active in the party, they added. They said that interference of male members of the party in the women wing created problems for female workers as party offices were filled on the basis of personal likes and dislikes by keeping Imran Khan in the dark. “In the prevailing situation wherein decisions are taken on the basis of personal likes and dislikes, many women workers will say goodbye the party,” insiders said.

Ms Hayat, when contacted, said that she resigned from the office provincial president on the directives of party leadership. “I had suggested that the new president should be of high caliber, known to all workers and popular so that she could reorganise the party. However, I have not seen the newly nominated president in the party meetings so far. She sought my cooperation through a telephone call,” she said.

Ms Hayat said that the new president was wife of Hazara commissioner and a relative of Nafeesa Khattak, the central general secretary of PTI women wing and sister-in-law of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. However, she said that chief minister had no role in her nomination. In response to some queries, Ms Hayat refused to comment.

PTI women wing central president Munazza Hassan told Dawn that the new provincial president had not worked on any of the party’s offices in the past but she had been nominated by the party chairman from among some names given to him. She also admitted that interference of men members had made the issues complicated in the women wings of the party in different provinces. “I agree that those, who have served the party from the very begging, should be rewarded. They have the right to be nominated on the reserved seats,” Ms Hassan said.

Efforts were made to contact Nafeesa Khattak, Asma Ara Khattak and Farzana Zain for comments but they did not attend the calls.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2014