Islamabad: Fault lines in the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seem to have worsened after senior leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Wednesday announced his decision to work with the party’s top brass.
“Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub […] were not allowed to meet PTI founder Imran Khan [in jail],” Marwat told reporters outside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
“I was not allowed to meet the founder of the party yesterday and today.”
Marwat’s comments came days after the party withdrew its nomination for the post of chairman of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and named Sheikh Waqas Akram for the post.
PTI General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub and Senator Shibli Faraz have called a political committee meeting to withdraw Marwat’s name, sources said, suggesting Akram’s name be substituted in his place.
Asad Qaiser, Shaharyar Afridi, Shandana Gulzar and Zulfi Bukhari said they supported Marwat.
Lamenting that the PTI founder was wrong on all issues, Marwat told Faraz that his name was withdrawn for the post of party PAC chairman after opposing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) nomination.
“I have been targeted since February 8 [elections] and I have informed the party founder,” Marwat said.
Admitting that he took PTI as a “dead horse”, he lamented that Imran Khan was not reported as a member of the political committee despite being appointed by him to the said body.
“I cannot accept [such] disrespect […] I left and will come back to meet the PTI founder only if called,” he said.
He also alleged that the party’s social media team was against him.
Emphasizing the need for protests, the outspoken politician said that the restoration of PTI founder’s mandate and freedom cannot be achieved without demonstrations.
This is not the first time that Marwat has clashed with other party leaders, earlier PTI’s Taimur Khan Jhagra had opposed his candidature from Peshawar.
Last month, she was even in an online relationship with Imran’s close aide Salman Ahmad.
