The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by Imran Khan is about to start its campaign for the upcoming Punjab polls tomorrow. Secretary General Asad Umar announced the news on Sunday. Despite the uncertainty around the elections, the PTI has finalized a list of 297 candidates and is ready to go.
Imran Khan made sure the process of distributing tickets was done on merit. He had one-on-one interviews with all candidates to select nominees for polls. However, the issuance of tickets by the party did not go well as it didn’t give tickets to some of its high-profile members. To address the objections raised by these members, Imran Khan is likely to involve some senior members into the reviewing committee.
The Election Commision of Pakistan is yet to receive the funds from the federal government to be able to conduct the election. Earlier, the Pakistan Supreme Court had ordered the federal government to release 21 billion rupees for the ECP for the polls. The order was set for April 10 but the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government opposed to it and denied to release the necessary funds for elections. In response to this, the Defence Ministry of Pakistan has also filed a petition against the order of the Supreme Court.
Asad Umar, who is leading the election campaign from the front, is a Pakistani politician and a former member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Prior to politics, he has been an economist, entrepreneur, and journalist. In 2019, Umar was the second-most popular parliamentarian in Pakistan.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi is also an integral part of this committee. He has been an active member of the party since it was formed in 1996. He is a veteran politician and has served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan twice. Moreover, he has been a leader of opposition in the National Assembly, a governor of Punjab, and a senior minister in various provincial governments.
The article was written to notify readers about the launch of the election campaign by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for the upcoming Punjab polls. With their list of 297 party candidates already finalized, the party is now ready to embark on the election campaign despite the situation of uncertainty. Although the Pakistan Democratic Movement government has refused to release funds for the elections, the PTI has the support of some of the country’s prominent political leaders, including Asad Umar and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who are part of the review committee.
