PESHAWAR: The second round of talks between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and disgruntled PTI leaders over Senate tickets ended without a breakthrough, deepening the rift within the party’s provincial chapter.
The first round of meeting was held after multiple PTI leaders protested and held press conferences over being sidelined in the nomination process for Senate elections. Those who met the chief minister included Irfan Saleem, Ayesha Bano, Irshad Hussain and Khurram Zeeshan. However, no agreement could be reached.
The second round was held later, attended virtually by some of the leaders, where the chief minister made another attempt to convince the dissatisfied leaders to withdraw their nomination papers. However, the nominees refused to step down, increasing the chances that elections will now be held as per the Constitution.
Following the inconclusive meeting, the matter has now been referred to PTI’s political committee for a final decision.
“We will respond once the political committee issues its decision, but we will not withdraw our nomination papers under any circumstances,” said the disgruntled leaders.
Gandapur, meanwhile, has reportedly reached an understanding with the opposition that Senate candidates will be elected unopposed — a deal now under threat due to the internal dissent.
Revised priority list of candidates
Earlier, the party’s internal differences came to the fore when PTI KP President Junaid Akbar sent a revised priority list of Senate candidates to party chairman Barrister Gohar, removing Mirza Khan Afridi from the lineup.
Further tensions surfaced when PTI Peshawar leaders accused the party of favouring “ATMs” (wealthy individuals) over loyal workers. Former PTI Peshawar president Rehman Jalal, flanked by other local officials, announced that Irfan Saleem would contest the Senate election despite being dropped from the revised list.
They warned of protests outside the KP Assembly and Chief Minister’s House on July 21 — the day of the election — if their demands for revising the Senate list were not met.
KP senate polls in spotlight; Centre needs 6 seats to secure majority
The revised priority list reportedly names Murad Saeed, Irfan Saleem, and Faisal Javed for general seats, while Khurram Shehzad and Azhar Mashwani are also recommended.
Noorul Haq Qadri and Azam Swati have been suggested for technocrat seats. The list has been sent for approval by the party’s founding leader following a nod from the parliamentary board.