PESHAWAR: The ruling PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chapter is going through a hard time with morale of the party workers slipping after a series of setbacks because of the party’s defeat at the first phase of the recently-held local government (LG) elections in the province.
Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved all organisational bodies of the PTI on December 24 in view of allegations that party tickets were distributed on the basis of nepotism.
There were also reports that the PTI provincial leadership sold tickets to wealthy, but little known candidates and that some party workers supported opposition candidates instead of the candidates nominated by their own party. The prime minister, who is also the PTI chairman, also formed a 21-member committee of senior leaders for the party’s restructuring and formulating its new constitution.
Another issue that PTI is unable to deal with at the turn of the year is the infighting between a number of PTI leaders and legislators, who have started a blame game against one another after the elections defeat.
According to party sources, KP Minister for Higher Education Kamran Bangash has served a legal notice to the PTI MNA Arbab Sher Ali’s brother and former Peshawar Town-III nazim Arbab Muhammad Ali after the latter alleged in a video that the provincial minister took a share of Rs20 million out of a total bribe of Rs70 million for selling Peshawar mayoral ticket to an unfamiliar wealthy candidate.
Ali, who is also a cousin to Prime Minister’s Advisor on Establishment Arbab Shehzad, was interested in contesting for the mayoral slot but he did not succeed in getting the party ticket as an Abu Dhabi-based businessman, Rizwan Bangash, secured the ticket but lost the contest to JUI-F candidate Zubair Ali.
In his video, Arbab Muhammad Ali also levelled the same allegations against KP Governor Shah Farman, claiming that the governor took Rs50 million in bribes. The governor too has served a legal notice on Ali.
Earlier, media reports suggested that Prime Minister Imran Khan was planning on relieving Arbab Shehzad of his responsibilities after a PTI investigation found out about the negative role of the Arbab family in Peshawar’s mayoral elections.
Peshawar-based political analyst Fida Adeel argued that the failure of Ali to get a ticket changed the game in the Peshawar mayoral contest.
“Expecting Arbab Muhammad Ali to be the PTI’s main candidate, the PPP initially gave mayoral ticket to Ziaullah Afridi but after the PTI gave ticket to Rizwan Bangash, the interest of PPP leaders – Arbab Alamgir and his wife Asma Alamgir – whetted.
“They started believing that they could win majority votes of the Khalil tribe in the absence of Arbab Muhammad Ali. Later, Ziaullah withdrew in support of Arbab Zarak but he couldn’t win despite the alleged support of Arbab Shehzad’s family,” Adeel said.
Denying any wrongdoing, Kamran Bangash told the media that awarding party tickets was never a decision of a single person. “Ten senior PTI leaders, including KP chief minister and some ministers, decided the allocation of tickets and nine out of ten recommended Rizwan Bangash for the slot of Peshawar mayor,” Bangash was quoted as saying by the media earlier.
Political analyst Lehaz Ali believes that the formation of a committee for restructuring is an attempt to divert attention from the loss in the LG elections.
“The PM has probably realized that he does not enjoy popular support. Similarly, workers are demoralized and there is an urgent need to shift their focus from the loss as LG elections are fast approaching in the remaining districts of KP and later in Punjab,” Lehaz said.
The analyst said it is also possible that Imran Khan has finally realized the weaknesses of his party in at least KP. “By dissolving the old setup, Imran Khan could attempt a revival of the party by bringing in new faces in an effort to convince voters and party workers.”
Another interesting development in recent weeks is the social media campaign about the replacement of the KP chief minister and governor. Dozens of names from Chitral in the North to Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan in the South have appeared on social media as a possible replacement for Governor Farman.
However, there is no way for the PTI to think of replacing the CM as any such decision might result in the loss of voter support in areas like Malakand and Swat.
Minister for Health and Finance Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra has a firm belief that this campaign has almost died out and that there were no plans of any major reshuffling in the provincial setup.
“There is always a struggle in any political structure. After LG election results, we were required to investigate our mistakes which might call for changes in the government and the party.
“The prime minister considered it appropriate to dissolve the party structures and align the party and the government leadership,” Jhagra said.
The minister said the chief minister and governor had the full support of the party leadership and legislators in the province.
“It is our job to support the CM and follow him. I am more than hopeful for the upcoming elections. Despite not winning the majority seats in the first phase, the PTI is the highest vote-getter. We will learn from our mistakes and we will ensure good results with our hard work in performance,” he said.
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