PM Imran calls emergency meeting to address controversy over Senate tickets

Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened an emergency meeting of the PTI parliamentary board today after party workers objected to the distribution of tickets in the Senate elections.

Sources said the premier will consult party leaders on the issue of tickets in the Senate elections at the PTI parliamentary board meeting. PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter has raised objections over the nomination of Najibullah Khattak, while PTI Sindh has a problem with the selection of Faisal Vawda and Saifullah Abro.

Sources said that the final decision on the distribution of tickets will be taken on the advice of PM Khan. Senate tickets being given to Federal Minister Faisal Vawda and wealthy construction contractor Saifullah Abro has created a rift among PTI leaders from Sindh. They have written a letter to Sindh Governor Imran Ismail over it. The ruling party has been under fire from its provincial chapters in Sindh and Balochistan for awarding Senate tickets to Vawda and Abro.

Earlier, the central party leadership withdrew the Balochistan Senate ticket from business tycoon Abdul Qadir after backlash and issued it to Zahoor Agha. Encouraged by the Balochistan fiasco, key party leaders from three zones of rural Sindh approached the governor on Sunday to show their anger and demand the party's high command to take back tickets from Vawda and Abro.

In the letter, PTI office-bearers from three regions said they were "extremely disappointed with the entire process" of the selection of PTI's candidates for the Senate polls. The PTI leaders from rural Sindh asked to review the allocation of the Senate tickets from Sindh and said the decision will harm the party in the upcoming local government polls.

Meanwhile, The Pakistan government has decided not to increase the salaries of employees of 18 departments by 25%, media reported Monday. A summary of the decision not to increase pay will be tabled in the Cabinet tomorrow for approval.

According to the Finance Ministry summary, the salaries of the employees working in the Presidency, Prime Minister House, Senate, National Assembly, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), health department, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), high courts, Islamabad Police, Motorway Police, and Airport Security Force (ASF) will not be raised. The other departments include the International Bureau (IB), Parliamentary Affairs Division and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA.