PTI not 'disturbed' over Imran Khan's incarceration, insists former KP minister

As Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) continues to face both internal and external challenges, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) minister Shaukat Yousafzai has dismissed claims suggesting that the party was "disturbed" over its founder Imran Khan's incarceration.

Speaking on Geo News' programme "Geo Pakistan" on Thursday, Yousafzai said: "There is no substance in rumours suggesting that the PTI was disturbed due to Imran Khan's incarceration [...] the PTI's vote bank isn't going anywhere."

The rebuttal comes against the backdrop of reports suggesting tug-of-war among its leadership on issues ranging from corruption and bad governance in KP under Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to the party leadership's inability to hold a public rally.

The party's founder and former prime minister, who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, has been behind bars for more than a year as well as several other key leaders such as Shah Mahmood Qureshi are either behind bars or in hiding owing to the nationwide crackdown launched against the party after the last year's May 9 riots.

Earlier this month, Khan had summoned PTI's KP leaders Atif Khan and Junaid Akbar for a meeting at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail after the duo voiced support for former KP minister for communication and works Shakeel Ahmad who had stepped down over alleged corruption and bad governance by the CM Ali Amin Gandapur-led government in the province.

Another issue the party faces is its inability to hold a major powershow as reflected in the Islamabad rally saga which has been dragging on for months with the local administration time again denying or revoking permission for a rally in the federal capital.

Last week, the PTI put off its public gathering in Islamabad and rescheduled it for September 8 with Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan saying that the powershow was postponed following a party leadership's meeting with Imran Khan in Adiala jail.

Gohar along with National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub claimed that the rally was rescheduled on Khan's instructions.

The postponement of the Islamabad rally didn't sit well with Aleema Khan, the PTI founder's sister, who expressed a lack of confidence in the current leadership and said that they had no "real intention" of freeing the former prime minister from jail.

'Will definitely hold Sept 8 rally' 

Speaking on the alleged rift between party leadership, Yousafzai said that there were no differences within the party and that action was taken against PTI members in accordance with the party's discipline guidelines.

"Atif Khan has not been expelled from the party [....] KP CM Gandapur is doing alright in light of the fact that we have to run our campaign while the founder is in jail," the former provincial minister said.

"The KP chief minister has been given a task by assigning him the said post," he added.

Reiterating that the party will "definitely" hold the September 8 rally in Islamabad, the PTI leader said that the biggest success of the party has been keeping its workers charged.

It is to be noted that Islamabad Advocate General Ayyaz Shaukat has assured the party of granting permission to hold its rally in the federal capital on the said date, The News reported on Thursday.

Touching upon the party's leaders who were in hiding, he said that he couldn't say anything about them.

"I don't know anything about Murad Saeed," he said while referring to the whereabouts of the former minister who has been in hiding since last year.