ISLAMABAD: Despite an announcement by the party chairman, PTI could not finalise the list of candidates for the upcoming general elections till late night on Thursday.

While talking to the media outside the Adiala Jail in the afternoon, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said the announcement would be made by 11pm.

“Consultation [with Imran] regarding tickets has been completed. Insha Allah, before 9pm or 11pm in the evening, I will announce the tickets,” Mr Gohar had said.

He added that the process to issue tickets will also be initiated, and all PTI candidates will submit their tickets to the respective returning officers by Friday or Saturday.

A clip of his announcement was also shared on the party’s official X account. However, a list of candidates could not be shared with the media till the filing of this story.

A senior PTI official said the party was finding it difficult to finalise the candidates “due to different reasons”.

“On Thursday, party chairman Barrister Gohar Khan tried to finalise the names in a meeting with the founding chairman Imran Khan in jail, but he was not allowed to take the documents in the jail,” said the PTI leader while requesting anonymity.

He added that a meeting was later held with the incarcerated leader, but the names of candidates were discussed verbally.

“After returning from jail, the PTI chairman had to recall names discussed with Mr Khan,” the party leader said while explaining the reasons for the delay in the announcement.

Another reason cited by the party official was the delay in the issuance of PTI’s ‘bat’ symbol by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2024