On the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the President has proposed the date of the provincial assembly elections in Punjab on April 30. As soon as the date is announced, the general election process has started legally.
Chairman Tehreek-e-Insaf has started the election campaign from last week. He will also take out a rally on March 8 in Lahore.
On the other hand, other political parties, including the Muslim League-Nawaz, have not officially announced the election campaign, but statements are being made that their preparations are also underway.
The most difficult stage in general elections is the ticketing of candidates.
Political observers say that if the elections are held on the date given by the President, the distribution of tickets in these general elections will be an interesting phase. And this time it won’t be the old traditional way anyway because the rules of the game have changed.
PML-N has appointed Maryam Nawaz as the chief organizer of the party and it is believed that Maryam Nawaz’s opinion will be very important in the distribution of tickets within this party.
However, the situation in Tehreek-e-Insaaf is that Imran Khan has officially announced that he will issue party tickets himself and will not accept any pressure.
Problems of Muslim League-N and allies
In Punjab, PML-N has started work on tickets and other election matters as Plan B.
An important leader of the party while talking to Urdu News said, “Well, we are not seeing elections on April 30, but then we have started our preparations as Plan B.” And constituencies where the victory of PML-N is certain and those candidates who have influence in their constituencies, their names have been finalized. The parliamentary board of the party will decide on the constituencies which are not clear, the process will be a little longer.
In response to a question about the MPs who had switched allegiance from Tehreek-e-Insaaf. Are they getting tickets too? The League leader said that some people will get tickets like Asad Khokhar did in the by-elections in Lahore. Similarly, some other candidates will also be given tickets.
He said that most of the candidates who lost in the by-elections have a lot of opposition for them within the party.
Political analyst Sohail Waraich says that the stage of tickets for PML-N will be a bit complicated, “It has not been decided yet whether PDM and People’s Party will fight the elections together or they will separate ways.” In case of coming together, PML-N will have to give seats to allies in Center and Upper Punjab where their vote bank is more. But it is still premature.
He further said that Nawaz Sharif will take the final decision on the ticket, however, as far as the candidates of the ticket are concerned, to what extent they can go against the party if their intentions are not fulfilled, then this part of There is a game and it happens to some extent in every party.’
Uzmi Bukhari, Spokesperson of PML-N in Punjab said that there is a board of PML-N that decides regarding the distribution of tickets. And efforts are made to select the best candidates. Our preparation is complete. If the Election Commission issues the schedule, then the distribution of tickets and other matters will be started.
Tehreek-e-Insaf will give tickets to whom?
Chairman Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan has said that this time he will choose the candidates himself. Is it practically possible to do this within the party?
Answering this question, analyst Sohail Waraich says, “I think it will be a bit difficult.” Especially when Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has now officially joined the party and there are other big names in the party. But as Imran Khan has a style of his own that he insists on anything. Now they also realize that they are so popular, whoever they give the ticket to will win. I think they will be able to select the candidates to a large extent, if not completely.
It should be noted that PTI won 15 of the 20 by-elections held in Punjab last year.
In all these constituencies, Tehreek-e-Insaf candidates were competing with previous candidates who were on the PML-N ticket.
Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Fawad Chaudhry told Urdu News that tickets are not the problem of Tehreek-e-Insaf. And there will be no discussion on this within the party. Everyone knows that if Imran Khan gives a ticket to any pole, he will win. And this is not just a statement, its practical demonstration has been going on since last year.
He said that Tehreek-e-Insaaf has completely changed the game of politics. People will forget who the electables are. PTI is currently the most popular party in the country. Who will not get a ticket. He will also have no choice but to work for the party because everyone knows the mood of the people this time.