By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: A rebellion within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Peshawar chapter threatens to upend the party’s strategy for the upcoming Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as local leaders vow to contest independently, accusing the party’s top brass of favouring wealthy newcomers over loyal workers.
The dispute stems from a seat-sharing deal struck on Thursday night at the Chief Minister’s House, where opposition leaders, led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Opposition Leader Dr. Ibadullah, met Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
The tentative agreement allocates six of the province’s 11 Senate seats to PTI, four general, one technocrat, and one for women, with the opposition securing five: two each for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and one for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The deal’s success hinges on five PTI candidates, Irfan Saleem, Ayesha Bano, Irshad Hussain, Khurram Zeeshan, and Waqas Orakzai, withdrawing their candidacies. These aspirants have refused, deepening the rift with party leadership.
Irfan Saleem, president of PTI’s Peshawar chapter and a vocal dissident, has emerged as the face of the rebellion. “Given the current scenario, we’re not ready to withdraw,” he told the Dawn newspaper. “The number of Senate seats PTI is getting under this arrangement is less than our actual strength in the provincial assembly.”
Saleem argued the pact benefits “pro-establishment elements” over grassroots loyalists, though he left the door open to compromise if PTI’s share increases.
To avert a crisis, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and General Secretary Salman Akram Raja rushed to Peshawar on Friday, holding at least two rounds of talks with the dissenting candidates. The meetings yielded no breakthrough. The party’s 38-member political committee was set to make a final call, but as of midnight, no resolution emerged. Media reports hinted the dissidents might relent, yet one candidate, speaking to the media, flatly denied any such agreement.
The rebellion’s roots lie in the denial of a Senate ticket to Saleem, a 23-year party veteran. At a Friday press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, former district general secretary Jalal Khan, flanked by former city president Ihtisham Khan and local leaders, championed Saleem’s cause. “Irfan Saleem is Peshawar’s Imran Khan,” Khan declared, invoking the party founder’s name.
He praised Saleem’s sacrifices, including enduring persecution after the violent May 9, 2023, protests, when PTI supporters clashed with authorities. Khan accused the leadership of dropping Saleem to accommodate Mirza Afridi, a wealthy candidate who, he claimed, publicly condemned the May 9 protests, a stance at odds with party policy.
“PTI workers in Peshawar were happy when Irfan Saleem was nominated,” Khan said, noting Saleem had previously been overlooked for National and provincial assembly tickets. The Peshawar chapter has threatened drastic action, including protests outside the Chief Minister’s House and a siege of the provincial assembly on polling day, if their demands are unmet.
The controversy traces back to July 15, when PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter recommended five names for general Senate seats: Murad Saeed, Irfan Saleem, Faisal Javed, Khurram Zeeshan, and Azhar Mashwani.
An accompanying letter to Barrister Gohar touted their “dedication, service to the party and ability to represent PTI’s vision at the national level.” Yet Saleem’s name vanished from the list after a meeting between Imran Khan and Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif at Adiala Jail, allegedly to make room for Afridi. Jalal Khan called it a “conspiracy” orchestrated by Saif.
The PTI’s troubles extend beyond its internal rift. JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said on Friday that a senior PTI leader had proposed a joint Senate election bid. “I told PTI that we have already given our word,” Murtaza said, confirming JUI-F’s rejection due to prior commitments to other opposition parties. The snub leaves PTI with fewer allies as it navigates the Senate contest.
With the Senate elections looming, PTI faces a high-stakes test of its unity and bargaining power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a stronghold for the party founded by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Peshawar chapter’s defiance could disrupt the delicate seat-sharing arrangement and embolden further dissent.
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