Falak Naz from Chitral gets PTI ticket for Senate polls

Zulfiqar Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: A grassroots worker from backward Torkhow valley of Chitral, Falak Naz was awarded ticket on Saturday by ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to contest Senate elections from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on a seat reserved for women.

Ms Naz, who started her career as a teacher from a  private school in Chitral, belongs to the remote Rayeen village. She was handpicked by Prime Minister Imran Khan to acknowledge “her services for the party though there was a along list of other potential candidates from the province.”   

Ms Naz joined the PTI in 2013 after quitting Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). She was head of the district women wing of the PPP when she decided to join the PTI after meeting PTI chairman Imran Khan in Islamabad.

Sources told ChitralToday that there were many aspirants for the tickets but the name of Ms Naz, who was the head of the PTI women wing Malakand Division, was finalized by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“I simply can’t describe my feelings [that] how great I feel as the party especially the prime minister has acknowledged the services of an ordinary worker like me,” she told ChitralToday.

She said that she would leave no stone unturned to serve the people of her area and would continue to work for the rights of the oppressed people, especially for the empowerment of women, their health and education. 

After Prince Burhanuddin, Ms Naz would be the second senator from Chitral after the forthcoming Senate elections scheduled for March 3.

Ms Naz’s surprise nomination for Senate ticket stirred a wave of optimism and joy among PTI workers, as they celebrated the rare selection of an ordinary woman from a backward district which has always been neglected by respective governments in the past for several decades as far representation in Senate is concerned.

“I feel proud, I am thankful to PTI that they nominated Falak Naz from Chitral. At least we’ve some representation in Senate now. I’m sure she would be the voice of people of Chitral in Senate,” said Abdul Latif, former district president of PTI Chitral.