QUETTA: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is facing opposition from party leaders and workers over the award of party tickets.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Humayun Khan Jogezai and other PTI leaders said the party had not distributed tickets on merit and ignored youths.

Mr Jogezai said that PTI chairman Imran Khan had been informed of the reservations. He expressed the hope that Mr Khan would look into the matter after returning from Saudi Arabia. He said PTI’s senior leaders and workers had been ignored and tickets were awarded to newcomers who had joined the party recently. The PTI leader claimed that party’s provincial president Yar Muhammad Rind in a TV interview had tried to create differences between Baloch and Pashtuns.

He said after viewing the interview the PTI president for Qila Abdullah had resigned in protest and youths were expressing anger over Mr Rind’s statement about the population ratio of Baloch and Pashtuns.

PTI workers protested in Quetta alleging that old and loyal workers have been ignored while awarding party tickets. They chanted slogans against PTI’s leadership.

“Four members of the party’s parliamentary board had awarded themselves tickets, but loyal workers who kept PTI alive in Quetta were completely ignored,” party worker Lala Sultan said.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2018