MNA Shandana Gulzar alleges PTI\u2019s political committee comprises \u201csuspicious characters\u201d
\n ISLAMABAD
\nCracks have emerged in the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as 27 of its lawmakers, who are now part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), hinted to form a forward bloc over top leadership\u2019s inability to secure release of party founder Imran Khan from jail, sources told Geo News on Wednesday.
\nIn a setback to the former ruling party, 21 PTI lawmakers signalled to form a forward bloc and \u201cconveyed a message\u201d to Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan to start serious efforts for incarcerated leaders\u2019 release.
\n\u201cMore than 27 PTI lawmakers held consultations after Shehryar Afridi\u2019s statement about his resignation. Meanwhile, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Sher Afzal Marwat and several lawmakers also protested over the incompetence of the party\u2019s top leadership,\u201d the sources revealed.
\nIt emerged that several PTI legislators excused from attending the parliamentary party\u2019s session due to their differences besides alleging that the parliamentary leader in the Senate and the senior leaders in the National Assembly were \u201ccompromised\u201d for some committees.
\nThey alleged that some leaders were eyeing higher posts instead of focusing on the PTI founder and party leaders\u2019 release from jails.
\nThe revelations about heightened differences between PTI legislations were bolstered by a recent statement of MNA Shandana who told Geo News: \u201cResignations would be a better option if we cannot take the PTI founder out of jail.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are now beating the desk [here in the assembly] and wasting our energy for committees. It is quite better to sit at home. I have also threatened to tender our resignations after Afridi\u2019s call,\u201d she slammed the PTI\u2019s top leadership.
\nExpressing serious concerns over top leaders\u2019 activities in the legislature, Shandana alleged that many \u201csuspicious characters in the political committee\u201d had vanished from the scene after May 9 riots.
\nShe added that the disgruntled leaders were not part of the party\u2019s core committee. The MNA also claimed that after Afridi\u2019s announcement for resignation, Marwat also decided to step down.
\nAnother PTI leader Atif Khan told Geo News that he also has objections on various matters within the party which was not an unusual thing for political parties.
\nHe, however, suggested his fellow leaders to end rifts and differences via using party platforms instead of going public.
\nThe development came to light after the party\u2019s secretary general and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar, in response to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\u2019s offer to talks, showed conditional agreement to start negotiations with the coalition government once its founder and other incarcerated workers and leaders were out of jail.
\nKhan, the deposed prime minister who was ousted from power via the opposition\u2019s no-confidence motion in April 2022, has been facing a slew of charges ranging from corruption to terrorism since his removal as the premier.
\nAfter securing relief in other cases including \u00a3190 million reference and Toshakhana, the former premier was acquitted in the cipher case earlier this month but he remains behind bars due to his conviction in the iddat case.
\nThe PTI founder has been behind bars since August last year after he was sentenced in the Toshakhana case and subsequently sentenced in other cases ahead of the February 8 elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MNA Shandana Gulzar alleges PTI\u2019s political committee comprises \u201csuspicious characters\u201d ISLAMABAD Cracks have emerged in the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as 27 of its lawmakers, who are now part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), hinted to form a forward bloc over top leadership\u2019s inability to secure release of party founder Imran Khan from jail, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-414709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n