Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Farooq Sattar on Thursday claimed that he had been invited to join the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and was mulling over the offer.
Sattar, while speaking to the press, reiterated a claim he made yesterday that the PTI had offered him a ticket to contest the NA-247 by-poll after the seat is vacated by president-elect Arif Alvi.
"The PTI is trying to get me to contest on the NA seat," he said, adding that he was consulting his inner circle over the invitation.
PTI leader Haleem Adil Shaikh, however, had expressed surprise on Wednesday over Sattar's claim and categorically denied it.
He said that the party would issue a ticket to "an old and loyal PTI worker" and made it clear that "[the seat] is not going to be offered to a newcomer."
Sattar wants scrutiny of poll campaign expenses
Sattar today also petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the excessive expenditure of funds by political parties during polls.
The MQM-P leader in his petition asked the ECP to scrutinise the electoral expenditure of political parties during campaigning for the polls.
"The ECP has allowed each candidate for a National Assembly seat to spend Rs4 million during campaigning but political parties spend tens of millions of rupees in this regard," he said.
Take a look: The most expensive elections
As a result, he said, candidates were not on a level playing field. He added that political parties spent billions of rupees to run media campaigns during election time.
"The PTI spent Rs1 billion while the PPP and the PML-N spent Rs2 billion each (during elections)," he claimed, adding that foreign firms had been hired for the election campaigns.
"Such expenditures should be marked in the parties' assets," he said.
The MQM leader said common citizens should also be given opportunities to take part in elections.
The ECP, after an initial hearing, deferred the hearing of the case to Sept 12.
