As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) prepares an anti-government movement after Eid-ul-Fitr, Senator Faisal Vawda on Tuesday rejected the notion of a grand opposition alliance being formed, saying that no sit-in against the government would be organised.
“No alliance would be made and no sit-in would be organised,” the senator said while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.
Last week, the PTI founder Imran Khan issued directives to expedite “establishing contact with other opposition parties for protests after Eid”, his lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said.
He added that Khan ordered Asad Qaiser to contact all opposition parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s Awaam Pakistan, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Mahrang Baloch, and others.
Unveiling the former ruling party’s strategy, Chaudhry said that the PTI was working towards forming a grand opposition alliance, focused on certain objectives including restoration of the constitution and democracy.
Since Khan’s ouster from power, the PTI organised a series of anti-government protests in the past, however, they ended up abruptly following violent clashes between the protesters and law enforcers.
Speaking during today’s programme, Vawda claimed that the entirety of PTI is “compromised”, adding that the former ruling party has lost its popularity.
“PTI’s popularity graph has fallen…PTI members walk out of the House under compromise during crucial amendments,” he said.
The PTI has reportedly been facing “internal rifts”, with members of its senior leadership developing differences on various matters after the incarceration of the party founder in 2023.
Recently party stalwart Sher Afzal Marwat was expelled, which he blamed on “de-facto” Secretary General Salman Akram Raja.
Before Marwat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was removed as the head of the party’s provincial chapter and replaced by Junaid Akbar.
Separately, ex-PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry and party ticket-holder Shoaib Shaheen had a scuffle over a minor argument outside Adiala jail, causing the latter to fall to the ground and injuring his arm.
Furthermore, Vawda said Marwat would not be allowed to remain in PTI. “He’s [Marwat] a sincere man and practices independent politics,” he added.
In response to a question, he said he doesn’t belong to any party, adding that he would “never rejoin the PTI”.
The former PTI federal minister also accused the party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government of being involved in corruption, saying that the chats of Aleema Khan, Imran Khan’s sister, have exposed the “ongoing corruption in the province”.
He further added that the PTI leaders “run their houses by embezzling party funds”, adding that KP was ahead of other provinces in corruption.
The senator claimed that a case of “assets beyond means” could be registered against KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
“The establishment does not need PTI, nor does it want anything from the party,” he clarified.
