February 28, 2021
The PTI fears a repeat of the previous elections when several party members had refrained from voting for their party’s candidates
The upcoming Senate elections have become a challenge for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI). The party fears a repeat of the previous elections when several party parliamentarians did not vote for its candidates. In the end, twenty MPAs were expelled from the party. There is also infighting and dissatisfaction with some nominations. Party leaders, however, have said that the disputes will be resolved soon.
The PTI government’s bid to hold Senate elections through a show of hands rather than secret ballot and its choice of first a reference to the Supreme Court and then an ordinance to change the rules, has attracted much comment. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the matter just ahead of the polling schedule. The PTI leaders claim that they want to introduce this method to stop corruption and use of money to buy votes.