LAHORE: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is currently receiving backlash from its party cadres for placing diehard jiyali Shahida Jabeen on 15th spot in the list of reserved seats for women in Punjab, while the name of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) turncoat Momina Waheed was at fourth place in the PPP list.
The list PPP submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) comprises of Shazia Abid, Nargis Faiz Malik, Natasha Doultana, Momina Waheed, Ayesha Chaudhary, Rubina Nazeer Chandia, Lubna Tariq, Neelum Jabbar Chaudhary, Shagufta Chauhdry Advocate, Nosheen Hashmi Advocate, Sonia Khan, Sakina Chaudhry, Sehrish Khan, Abida Bukhari, Shahida Jabeen, Sehrish Ramzan, Kalsoom Naz Baloch and Ayesha Ghauri.
South Punjab’s Shazia Abid deserves top spot
Senior leaders from PPP in Punjab told The Friday Times (TFT) that PPP is the only party which placed the name of a woman from underprivileged South Punjab region at first spot.
“Shazia’s name at first spot is a great decision, and that too on merit, because she had received around 27,710 votes in 2018 general elections against Sardar Muhammad Jaffar Khan Leghari in NA-193, which is a huge achievement”.
Shahida Jabeen’s name not being on top irks party leaders
Senior leaders were also perturbed because of Shahida’s name at 15th place, saying that Shahida’s sacrifices and struggles for the party are matchless. “She bravely and fearlessly fought against the tyranny of General Ziaul Haq, and her brother also gave his life for the PPP,” a senior leader recalled.
Similarly, Nayab Gohar Jan also failed to make it to PPP’s list of nominees for women reserved seats in the Punjab assembly.
Momina known for ‘venomous rants’ against Bhutto, party leadership
According to PPP insiders, Momina Waheed used to spew venom against party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto shaheed and once also referred to him as kutta in one of her tweets. “She also used non-parliamentary language and passed unethical remarks against our party leadership, and some of these tweets are still not deleted from her Twitter handle“.
“She is a hate monger and the party should not have awarded her a ticket,” said Shahzad Shafi, a longtime PPP worker and stalwart.
Momina joined hands with PDM to topple PTI in Punjab assembly
It is pertinent to mention that Momina was elected on PTI’s reserved seat for women in 2018 and in 2022 at the time of vote of confidence in Punjab Assembly, when she refused to cast her vote for Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.
“Momina was promised that her name would be added to the list of reserved seats for women by former president Asif Ali Zardari on behalf of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM),” a senior PPP leader confirmed.
Zardari fulfilled his promise to Momina
The senior PPP leader maintained that initially she became part of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and was seeking a PMLN ticket for a reserved seat. “When she was certain that she won’t be able to make it to PMLN, she approached PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and gave him a reminder. Zardari sahib fulfilled the promise by adding her name to the list of reserved seats for women”.
Momina also thanked former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari for placing her name on PPP’s list of reserved seats for women. She said she had officially joined PPP too, now that her name was placed on the list of party nominees to the reserved seats for women.
Ayesha Chaudhry and Momina Waheed will be on PPP’s NA list too
Sources within PPP who are close to former president Zardari confirmed to TFT that both Ayesha Chaudhry, who had joined PPP right after leaving PTI, and Momina Waheed, who just joined the party ranks, would be added to the list of reserved seats for women in National Assembly too, as both of them were promised by Zardari that they would become members of the parliament.
Ayesha Nawaz Chaudhry ‘acceptable’ to party workers
Sources maintained that Ayesha Nawaz Chaudhry was welcomed by party workers, and she is acceptable to both leadership as well as workers unlike Momina. “Ayesha never passed negative remarks about party leadership and is also putting in a lot of effort for reorganizing the party at different levels,” a senior leader said.
Rana Farooq group dominates minorities list
Sources privy to this development told TFT that Rana Farooq, the acting central Punjab President of PPP manipulated the leadership and for minority members belonging to this group made it to the list of reserved seats for minorities.
“Adwin Salhothra was one of the main forces behind Bilawal’s long march, and had also mobilized the workers, but was ignored by Rana Farooq. Adwin is also called ‘brother’ by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and he deserved to be added to the list,” a senior leader said.
