Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has often made headlines for his harsh remarks about his ex- party’s leadership. This time, he termed one PTI leaders an “insect.”
“After we were forcefully removed from the PTI, a leadership vacuum was created within the party, so these insects, including Shoaib Shaheen, stepped forward. They do not belong to PTI at all,” said Chaudhry in Khabar Se Khabar on Monday.
The former federal minister for Information and Broadcasting claimed that PTI’s current party leadership is insecure about his return to the party.
However, program host Nadia Mirza contested Chaudhry’s insult “insects” by saying that the PTI’s current leadership indeed rescued the party when many leaders had abandoned it in the past.
“How long did Shoaib Shaheen, Barrister Gohar Khan, and Salman Akram Raja remain imprisoned in jail? What are their sacrifices for PTI,” Chaudhry asked.
Decrying the PTI leadership, he said that instead of initiating an agitation after the February 8 general election, party leaders confined themselves to their homes. “48 cases registered on me; how many cases have been filed against the PTI leadership,” he questioned.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen had criticised Fawad Chaudhry on December 21 over his suggestion to operate Imran Khan’s X (formerly Twitter) account from Pakistan.
“Those who abandoned the party back then no longer have any affiliation with PTI,” Shaheen quoted Imran Khan as saying. The lawyer further stated that the party founder had directed others to distance themselves from Fawad Chaudhry.
On December 21, following the directive of Imran Khan, party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan issued a formal statement distancing the party from the former federal minister.
“A meeting took place at Adiala Jail, where PTI’s legal team met Imran Khan. During the meeting, Khan instructed the team to publicly disassociate from Fawad Chaudhry,” Gohar said in his statement.
“Accordingly, following Khan Sahab’s instructions, the PTI completely disassociates itself from Fawad Chaudhry and clarifies that Fawad Chaudhry has no relation whatsoever with the PTI. Moreover, he is not authorised to represent the PTI on media, social media, and TV talk shows, or issue statements on behalf of the PTI, or present his personal opinions as the party’s stance.”