SWABI: The internal differences in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf are posing a serious threat to its position here in the district and if serious efforts are not made to resolve them the party could suffer in the coming general elections.

Party insiders toldthis correspondent here on Saturday that it was the right time to sit across the table with all stakeholders of the party, accommodate each other’s views and resolve the internal issues. They said that the party should put its house in order well ahead of the next general elections.

The sources recalled that the PTI leaders had won the 2018 general elections from all constituencies in Swabi district while the party had been dominating the local politics since 2013 general elections.

They said that the party’s position was at stake right now as its leaders did not learn a lesson from their defeat in the local government elections.

The sources said that the party parliamentarians who had won in 2018 might not be ready to give an opportunity to other leaders in the next elections.

In the previous elections, one ticket of National Assembly and two of the provincial assembly were awarded to the family of Shahram Khan Tarakai, while former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser had contested elections from one National Assembly and one provincial assembly constituency.

Later, when he retained the National Assembly seat, the ticket for the by-election on the provincial assembly seat was awarded to his brother, Aqibullah Khan. Only Abdul Karim, CM’s adviser on industries, and MPA Rangaiz Khan had fought successfully for their tickets.

The party insiders said that if all the sitting parliamentarians got the ticket, no new leader would be able to contest the upcoming elections. They said that this could cause serious issues for the party in future.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2022