Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that he will be surprised to see Usman Buzdar as Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab again, however, he stressed that the decision will be up to the party chairman, Imran Khan.
Talking to Journalist Kashif Abbasi on ARY News programme ‘Off the Record’, Fawad said: “What can I say,” when asked if Buzdar is the leading candidate for the slot. Chaudhry repeated himself again, saying that the decision will be made by Imran Khan.
The PTI leader didn’t seem happy when asked that why he didn’t get a Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) party ticket from Imran Khan.
It was revealed that senior leadership of the party, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Hammad Azhar, and Fawad, didn’t get party tickets for the upcoming Punjab election although it was widely speculated that they wanted one. Meanwhile, according to Fawad, both former CMs of Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi and Usman Buzdar, were given a ticket.
“We should have gotten them”, Fawad said when asked about tickets. He also agreed that there are many party members who want to apply for the Punjab CM candidacy including Hammad Azhar and Shah Mahmood.
Shahbaz Gill, who also didn’t get a MPA ticket, said that he and other leaders including Fawad and Hammad submitted papers for the provincial assembly, however, Khan decided not to give them tickets.
However, he accepted Khan’s decision wholeheartedly, saying “I am not with Khan for the ticket and not for the position.”
Khan’s social media focal person Azhar Mashwani also came forward to reveal that “many former federal ministers and MNAs of PTI wanted to contest elections on the Punjab Assembly seats as well.”
However, according to Azhar, Khan decided that the “federal team will remain in the federation.”
