Another visible ‘flop show’ was staged on Monday to form a breakaway faction of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as party’s estranged leader Pervez Khattak launched his own faction by the name of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf- Parliamentarians (PTI-P).
However, within minutes of the Khattak’s handout, majority of the party’s former lawmakers mentioned by Khattak’s party distanced themselves from his faction, bringing a huge backlash for Khattak.
Khattak visibly failed to attract the PTI loyalists from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) that is considered the heartland of the Imran Khan-led PTI. Only former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan was a big name among those who joined Khattak while most of others mentioned in the handout refuted of Khattak’s claim.
According to a handout issued by the party, Khattak is the new party’s chief while “more than 57” ex-PTI MPAs also joined the party with more inductions under way.
“Formation of new party came due to differences and conflict within the PTI on May 9 tragedy,” the handout reads, adding that all political leaders joining the PTI-P held PTI Chairman Imran Khan responsible for the May 9 riots.
“Imran Khan’s anti-national agenda was not only rejected by the public but the party’s own leadership. These patriotic politicians parted ways with the PTI over May 9’s events,” it further said.
A PTI leader termed Khattak’s party as “another flop show” as the old man failed to woo most of PTI lawmakers despite worst tactics used to create what he called “the puppet party”.
Replica of PPP’s rebel group?
Interestingly, the name chosen by Khattak looks like a copy of another group carved out of Benazir Bhutto’s PPP – PPP Parliamentarians – which was actually formed just to confront a possible ban on PPP.
PTI responds
The PTI and what’s left of its leaders came out guns blazing against the new party in an official response.
The party reacted to the development through metaphors, saying the “monsoon season is under way” and political parties were “springing up like weed”.
“Attempts are being made to destroy the standing crop of democracy in the country with a locust horde of 14 parties,” the party spokesperson added in a statement.
“In politics, the officials of the ‘Department of Agriculture’ are working hard day and night in the challenge of cultivating these new crops.”
Taking a dig at the formation of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) in Lahore, the PTI said: “That seed turned out rotten and was ground into the soil even before harvest.”
Similarly, it said: “The seed in KP called ‘Parliamentarian’ will also be washed away in the first rain of public reaction.”
Nonetheless, the party said it was grateful to the “Department of Agriculture” and its staff for “exposing the dirty eggs involved in behind-the-scenes conspiracies and separating them from PTI”.
