GUJRAT: The recent appointment of two Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders from Gujranwala as heads of three civic agencies of the city has not only exposed the hollowness of party’s slogans of merit and apolitical appointments in government departments, but also caused rivalries within the party cadres for such favours.

Ex-PML-N MPA SA Hameed who joined the PTI in 2012, was defeated in the last two general elections on the party ticket; first in 2013 by Khurram Dastgir Khan on a National Assembly seat and then from PP-58 in 2018. He has been appointed as Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), Gujranwala, chairman.

Similarly, another PTI leader, Aamir Sheikh, who was not given the ticket for an NA seat in July 25 elections, has been assigned the dual charge of Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and Gujranwala Development Authority (GDA).

Official sources said more such appointments of the PTI men are likely in the coming days to accommodate those who had expressed their annoyance for being ignored for such positions.

Earlier, in the last tenure of the PML-N government in Punjab these posts were held by the lawmakers belonging to the then ruling party. A PML-N MPA Nawaz Chohan headed Wasa and GDA, whereas the party MPA Taufeeq Butt headed the PHA in Gujranwala.

Sheikh Aamir has also been the executive member of the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and joined the PTI back in 2014. He wanted to contest election against former minister Khurram Dastgir Khan but was not issued party ticket.

Though the PTI chairman Imran Khan and other party leaders had been criticising previous governments for making politically-motivated appointments in government departments, after coming into power the party followed suit in both Punjab and Centre.

According to PTI local sources, such appointments have disgruntled those party leaders and workers who had been left out and such elements in a group have been demanding similar favours.

The sources say that some local PTI leaders, who had lost seats in the general election, are also demanding positions in the government.

They said Rizwan Aslam Butt, the PTI candidate who was defeated in PP-54 and the party nominee for NA-81, Siddique Mehar, are also keen for getting such slots.

They said that to counter influence of PML-N lawmakers and strengthen the PTI in Gujranwala the party needed to appoint some of its key local leaders against various government positions.

It is learnt that both Mr Butt and Mr Mehar held a couple of meetings with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar who reportedly assured them that they would be accommodated.

The Gujranwala district is a stronghold of the PML-N where PTI lost all the 14 Punjab Assembly and six National Assembly seats in the last two general elections.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2018