Rehman Daoud
The ticket-awarding mechanism of a political party refers to the process by which the party selects and nominates its candidates to contest in elections. This process is generally governed by the party’s constitution and rules and may involve various stages of screening, vetting, and selection.
In most political parties, the ticket-awarding mechanism begins with the opening of nominations for a particular election. Interested candidates usually have to submit their applications along with relevant documents and fees within a specified time frame. The party’s screening committee then reviews the applications and documents to ensure that the candidates meet the eligibility criteria and fulfil other requirements such as party membership and financial disclosures.
Once the initial screening is completed, the party may conduct further assessments such as interviews, surveys, and background checks to evaluate the candidates’ suitability and electability. The final selection of candidates is usually made by the party’s leadership based on a combination of factors such as the candidates’ qualifications, experience, popularity, and loyalty to the party.
The ticket-awarding mechanism is an important process in any political party, as it determines the quality and diversity of candidates who will represent the party in elections. It is also crucial for maintaining internal democracy and ensuring that all eligible candidates have a fair chance to contest and win elections under the party’s banner.
The specific modes for awarding tickets to candidates within an organised democratic political party can vary depending on the party’s internal rules and regulations. However, there are some common mechanisms that are often used. Here are a few examples:
- Primaries: In a primary election, party members vote to choose their preferred candidate for an upcoming election. This can be done through a closed primary (only registered party members can vote) or an open primary (any registered voter can participate).
- Caucuses: A caucus is a meeting of party members where they discuss and vote on their preferred candidates. Caucuses can be more time-consuming and require a higher level of engagement from party members than primary elections.
- Party Conventions: Political parties often hold conventions where party members and delegates vote to choose their candidates for various offices. These conventions can be held at the local, state, or national level.
- Party Leadership Selection: In some cases, party leaders may choose to directly appoint candidates for certain offices rather than using an election-based mechanism.
It’s worth noting that these mechanisms can differ depending on the level of government the candidate is running for (e.g. local, state, national) and the specific rules and regulations of the party in question.
Hence, the process is the most essential for a political party. Unfortunately, the political parties in Pakistan are neither democratic nor organised, and PTI is no exception. There is always a central leader, who is the party’s supreme leader, and his discretion is the ultimate law for the party. PTI, over the years, has been criticised for not selecting quality candidates for constituencies. The second and third-tier leadership has always been at daggers drawn and also manipulated the party tickets for their kith and kins. There have always been groups and other vested interests in the party. Therefore, awarding tickets has been an issue. Instead, PTI never won the elections according to their potential.
Fundamentally, PTI suffers from a primary question. Does PTI need electable or not? The situation is very delicate. PTI voters do not tend to vote electable. Then, it is only easy to win constituencies with electives. Furthermore, PTI never organised the party to make its own electives; rather, it remains dependent on electives for donations, party organisations and electioneering. However, this time around, the chairman of PTI, Imran Khan, decided to award tickets himself. Then, again, it is a discretionary power, and it is humanly not possible to know the 297 Punjab Assembly constituencies and award tickets on merit. Nevertheless, it also negates the importance of the structural organisation of awarding tickets to the aspirants. Even a person’s discretion can be within the collective wisdom of a functional organisation. Therefore, it is significant to develop a ticket-awarding mechanism.
Despite the popularity of PTI, PTI must deal with each constituency as a separate unit. It must follow the four factors; Political party+Candidate+Election Campaign+ Polling Day Management to win a constituency. Most of the PTI ticket aspirants have said that there is no uniformity in the process of awarding tickets, irrespective of the merit of the system. They contend that interviews are conducted on fewer constituencies, and most tickets are awarded without interviews. Therefore, a uniform process is not adopted. Then, the district and regional leadership also manipulated the ticket-awarding procedure. It is not the first time that PTI ticket aspirants have called the process defective publically.
The system is always better than discretion; even discretion is for merit and transparency. Awarding tickets on merit with a functional ticket-awarding mechanism is only possible. PTI needs to develop a transparent and participatory ticket awarding mechanism. The best mode is to ask workers of the constituencies to elect their candidate. Then, it needs an organisational set-up in the districts and constituencies. Moreover, with the application of technology, it can easily be done. It is the biggest challenge of PTI to organise the party at the grassroots other than organising through electives. How can a political party grow without organisation? Merit and transparency shall only come with the organisation of the party. Furthermore, leadership will only be made if the party is organised. Lastly, if a political party cannot organise itself despite its soaring popularity, how can it bring better governance and structural reformation?
