LAHORE: The Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) has decided to support Pakistan Tehreek Insaf candidates in both the city constituencies -NA-124 and NA-131 -in the by-elections to be held on Oct 14 (Sunday).

The party says the decision to support the PTI candidates Ghulam Mohyuddin Diwan (NA-124) and Humayun Akhtar Khan (NA-131) has been taken by the PAT`s local leadership and was not binding for the workers at national level.

`It was lef t to the local (constituency and city) party leadership to decide, which candidates they want to support,` explains the PAT spokesman, Noorullah Siddiqui. He, however, agreed that over 90 per cent of the candidates (12 for National Assembly and 27 for provincial assemblies) contesting by-elections being sup-ported by the party belonged to the PTI. `The only thing I am saying is that the decision was not central, but that of local leadership,` he says.

The party on Monday hosted a reception for Mr Diwan and pledged that its workers would accompany him in the door-to-door campaign and support him actively.

On the other hand, the party circles say that PAT can`t in any way support Khwaja Saad Rafique, former minister for railways and one of contestants, because he is a nominated accused in the Model Town case.

`It explains why the PAT is supporting his opponent.

In June 2014, he was the one who had dared PAT Chief Tahirul Qadri to return to the country because the government was ready to `welcome` him on his arrival. So, the party would not support him and instead back Humayum Akhtar Khan in opposition to Saad Rafique, rather than merits of Mr Khan,` he explained.