ISLAMABAD: Cracks have emerged in the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as 20 of its lawmakers, now part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), hinted at forming a forward bloc over the top leadership’s inability to secure the release of party founder Imran Khan from jail.
In a setback to the former ruling party, 20 PTI lawmakers signaled their intention to form a forward bloc and “conveyed a message” to Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan, urging them to make serious efforts for the release of incarcerated leaders.
“More than 27 PTI lawmakers held consultations after Shehryar Afridi’s statement about his resignation. Meanwhile, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sher Afzal Marwat, and several lawmakers also protested against the incompetence of the party’s top leadership,” the sources revealed.
It emerged that several PTI legislators excused themselves from attending the parliamentary party’s session due to their differences, alleging that the parliamentary leader in the Senate and senior leaders in the National Assembly were “compromised” for some committees.
They accused some leaders of seeking higher posts instead of focusing on the release of the PTI founder and other party leaders from jail.
The 27 lawmakers were in favor of stepping down from the assembly, while 21 of them considered forming a forward bloc, the sources added.
The revelations about heightened differences among PTI legislators were bolstered by a recent statement from MNA Shandana Gulzar Khan, who told Geo News: “Resignations would be a better option if we cannot take the PTI founder out of jail.”
“We are now beating the desk [here in the assembly] and wasting our energy on committees. It is quite better to sit at home. I have also threatened to tender our resignations after Afridi’s call,” she criticized the PTI’s top leadership.
Expressing serious concerns over the activities of top leaders in the legislature, Shandana alleged that many “suspicious characters in the political committee” had vanished from the scene after the May 9 riots.
She added that the disgruntled leaders were not part of the party’s core committee. The MNA also claimed that after Afridi’s announcement of resignation, Marwat also decided to step down.
Another PTI leader, Atif Khan, told Geo News that he also had objections on various matters within the party, which was not unusual for political parties.
He, however, suggested his fellow leaders resolve rifts and differences using party platforms instead of going public.
The development came to light after the party’s secretary general and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, in response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer to talk, conditionally agreed to start negotiations with the coalition government once its founder and other incarcerated workers and leaders were released from jail.
Imran Khan, the deposed prime minister ousted via the opposition’s no-confidence motion in April 2022, has been facing a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal as premier.
After securing relief in other cases, including the £190 million reference and Toshakhana, the former premier was acquitted in the cipher case earlier this month but remains behind bars due to his conviction in the iddat case.
The PTI founder has been behind bars since August last year after being sentenced in the Toshakhana case and subsequently sentenced in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.
