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Fawad Chaudhry. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Senior PTI leaders who were part of the party’s original leadership are preparing to revive the political movement under the guidance of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan, sources said on Friday.
According to insiders, prominent figures including Fawad Chaudhry, Asad Umar, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi, Mahmood Moulvi and Sibtain Khan are expected to lead the initiative once it is released.
The group also plans to meet Imran Khan to formally seek his approval before launching the campaign.
Sources said the veteran leaders intend to bring on board other experienced political figures from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. “The movement will gain real momentum after Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s release when the old guard will be seen back in active political action,” said a source.
Members of the former PTI leadership reportedly believe that the current leadership “cannot equate” with the founder of the party, claiming that they will continue to function according to Imran’s directives.
A day earlier, media reported that another tiff within the party – this time over the leadership of PTI in central Punjab – has erupted over social media platform X, in full public view, just weeks after jailed founder Imran Khan warned party leaders against airing their dirty laundry in public.
In a telling series of tweets on Thursday, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja lashed out at those who were “conspiring against him”, recalling that Mr Khan had personally directed him to convey messages from Adiala jail.
Although he did not explain the issue at hand, a cursory look at his past tweets and messages posted by other PTI leaders revealed the dispute.
The controversy centers around the removal of PTI Central Punjab president Ahmad Chattha and general secretary Bilal Ejaz, who were removed following instructions allegedly conveyed by Imran Khan on 16 October when he met lawyer Gohar Ali Khan and Salman Akram Raja in Adiala jail.
Chattha was one of the men shot and injured in Wazirabad when Imran Khan’s container was fired upon during a demonstration in 2022.
A notice, issued the same day by PTI’s Punjab Chief Organizer Aliya Hamza, had announced Chattha’s removal. He was to be replaced by Ali Imtiaz Warraich.
However, after the October 16 meeting, Raja had tweeted that the party founder had not ordered any change in the Punjab hierarchy in his presence, adding that they would seek confirmation of this decision from Khan in their next meeting.
