PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers on Wednesday staged a protest against denial of the Senate ticket to the party’s Peshawar president Irfan Saleem, who is among the PTI founding members.

A large number of PTI workers gathered outside the Peshawar Press Club to protest the denial of ticket to Mr Saleem, demanding of the party leadership to review its decision.

Holding portrait of Mr Saleem, they chanted slogans in favour of him.

Workers were angered when adviser to the chief minister on information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif announced names of the PTI candidates for the July 21 Senate elections after meeting the patron-in-chief Imran Khan in Adiala Jail.

Mr Saif said that Imran had approved four names for the general seats, including Murad Saeed, Faisal Javed, Mirza Mohammad Afridi and Pir Noorul Haq Qadri.

At the same time, Mr Saif also announced Rubina Naz as PTI candidate for the reserved seat of women, while Mohammad Azam Khan Swati for the technocrat’s seat.

He also announced Mashal Yousafzai as the party candidate on the by-election on the Senate seat vacated by the then incumbent Sania Nishtar.

The by-election is scheduled to be held on July 31.

PTI’s general secretary MNA Sher Ali Arbab promised that he will convey the reservations of the workers to the central leadership of the party.

“Irfan Saleem led every protest and rally taken out from Peshawar

before and after the May 9 incidents,” Mr Arbab said. He said that Irfan Saleem was an ideological worker of the party attached with it from the day one.

He said that it would be more appropriate to adjust the ideological workers in the senate elections. “The workers’ moral will be demoralised if the ideological workers are denied senate ticket,” he said.

Addressing the protesters, Rehmat Kundi, a senior party worker, said that Imran Khan had approved the name of Irfan Saleem as candidate for one of the general seats.

“Who is Barrister Saif to announce ticket for Mirza Afridi replacing Irfan Saleem,” he said, adding: “Mr Saif is puppet of the establishment.”

“If only the money is merit, then ideological workers should be told to sit at their homes,” he said. “The awarding of Senate ticket to the rich people has revealed that the diehard workers have no place in this party,” he said.

Rehmat Kundi said that if they cannot get their rights then how they will fight for the rights of their incarcerated leader Imran Khan.

One of the party workers told Dawn that the diehard party activists were the assets of the PTI, who lead every protest and rally, adding if such workers were discouraged and ignored then who will carry the party’s flag.

“The rich disappear whenever party faces hard times but they resurface to reap the benefits,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2025