PTI terminates Raja Riaz, Noor Alam’s party membership

Taking strict action against its dissenting lawmakers and leaders, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday terminated the basic membership of its 13 more leaders, including Raja Riaz — Opposition Leader in the National Assembly (NA) and MNA Noor Alam Khan — Chairman Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

PTI dissident lawmakers Nuzhat Pathan, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Wajiha Qamar, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari, Nawab Sher, Makhdoom Zada Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan, Afzal Khan Dhandla, Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo, Amir Talal Gopang and Ahmed Hussain Dilber Hussain were also kicked out from the party today, read a statement shared by the Imran Khan-led party on its official Twitter handle.

The leaders were instructed not to use the party’s name or designation in any way.

In addition to this, the PTI secretary general served show-cause notices on ex-MPA from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Malik Shaukat for attending a meeting of a newly-established party without the approval of the former ruling party. He was asked to submit his response within two days.

Last week, the PTI also expelled former KP chief minister Mahmood Khan after he defected to the former party leader Pervez Khattak-led breakaway faction, the PTI Parliamentarians.

Several other PTI leaders including former KP lawmakers Wilson Wazeer, Ishtia Urmar, Iqbal Wazeer, Yaqoob Sheikh and Shafiq Afridi had also been expelled from the party.

Khattak, a former close aide of ex-prime minister Imran Khan, formed the PTI Parliamentarians, days after being thrown out of the party last month.

Announcing the formation of the new party, the former defence minister condemned May 9 attacks and violent protests.

"Our existence is directly linked to that of Pakistan. The PTI is now completely finished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa," the former provincial chief minister, who holds an important position in the province's politics, said.

The politician, who served as the PTI's secretary general and chief minister of KP during the PTI government, was also sacked over his failure to respond to a “show cause notice” issued to him.

The PTI remains embattled, with its chairman facing several cases and a threat of disqualification while key party leaders have parted ways following May 9 — the day party workers wreaked havoc and attacked army installations.

Some of the former party members, considered close to the PTI chief previously, also dented Khan's party in Punjab as Jahangir Tareen, Aleem Khan, and other people formed the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party in June.