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 phase 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 phase of tickets for PML-N will be a bit complicated, “It has not been decided yet that PDM and People’s Party will fight the elections together or they will go their 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.
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.