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PTI blasts Asad Umar after he criticised party chief’s policies

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  • Ambiguity, confusion evident in Asad Umar’s thoughts: PTI.
  • Umar can justify his decision, but should not ignore facts, says PTI.
  • “I do not agree with PTI chairman’s current strategy, Umar says.

Hours after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar criticised his leader Imran Khan for refusing to negotiate with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the party has hit back at the senior leader, accusing him of being “confused” and “self-serving”.

A scathing two-page-long statement was issued by the party’s media department on Twitter late last night following the former secretary general’s interview in which he criticised the policies adopted by the PTI chief.

“Ambiguity and confusion are evident in Asad Umar’s thoughts; Asad Umar’s claims that he stepped down from the duties of secretary general due to disagreements over the chairman’s strategy appear to contradict reality,” the statement read.

“If Asad Umar disagreed with the decisions of the chairman or the party and did not think it appropriate to go through with them, he should have parted ways [from PTI],” it stated, adding that he “remembered to resign” only now that the party is being targeted under a plan.

“His personal interest may be hidden in it, but not the party’s,” the statement alleged.

Furthermore, the statement took issue with Umar’s claims that the party had refused to negotiate: “Umar, as Secretary General, is well aware of the numerous efforts made to discuss national issues with these political parties.

“Asad Umar himself used to take this position that whenever he tried to talk to these parties, they did not discuss any agenda other than the acquisition of NRO.”

Attacking the leaders of other political parties, the statement contended that the reason for the fruitless termination of the talks was not PTI but the other side’s reluctance to contest elections for fear of defeat.

The statement maintained that PTI had shown great flexibility within the ambit of the Constitution.

“So Asad Umar can justify his indefensible decision but should avoid ignoring the facts.

If Asad Umar had taken a principled stand and decided to secede before the hard times fell on the party, perhaps there would have been more weight in his words,” the statement concluded.

‘Big mistake’

While talking to a private TV channel on Monday, Umar said his party’s refusal to negotiate with the PDM was a “big mistake”.

“While PTI is a political reality that polled 16.8 million votes, the PDM made it to parliament with 22.5 million votes,” he said.

The PTI leader — who resigned from the position of the party’s secretary general following the May 9 riots — further remarked that blaming some personalities of an institution was akin to blaming not only that institution but also the entire nation.

“May 9 was a wake-up call, and everyone must take two steps back,” he said.

However, Umar also expressed reservations about the PTI chairman’s current course of action during the interview.

“I do not agree with the current strategy of the PTI chairman,” he said.

However, I have no intention of doing politics in any other party except the PTI. The vote bank belongs only to Imran Khan and not any other party leader. If Imran Khan himself decides to be minus, then the party may disappear, Umar added.

The PTI stalwart also came down hard on those siding with the PTI chief and said: “Those who are telling Khan what he is doing is excellent and that he has to stand his ground have, in fact, no good intentions for the PTI chairman.”

He further claimed that the party’s senior political leadership was ignored during the decision-making.

“We should have taken the election date that the government was giving us,” he said, adding that around 80% of PTI MNAs were against resigning from their seats.

Two days after the PTI chairman was ousted as the prime minister in April 2022 — through a no-confidence motion moved by the then-opposition — all PTI MNAs resigned en masse on April 11. 

However, last month the Lahore High Court declared “null and void” the acceptance of the resignations of 72 PTI members of the National Assembly, including Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, and Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Umar revealed that when the election date was under discussion, there was a meeting in which almost all the party’s senior leadership except the PTI chief was present.

“Everyone except Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the proposed election date should be accepted,” he said.

Moreover, the PTI leader added that given where the country is, it has become a responsibility to say what is better for the country.

“It is not easy, but it needs ethical courage,” he said, adding that he talked to the party’s senior leadership over this matter but was not heard.

“I take no responsibility for this crisis within the party. In my opinion, Imran Khan should prepare himself for modification in his current stance,” he said.

“The people decide the future of a leader,” Umar remarked, adding that this does not mean a leader who has committed a crime should be forgiven; he must be punished.

He said the PTI supporters would not support his arguments, but he would defend himself.

He denied making any deal but admitted receiving invitations from multiple sources from one party.

“I won’t join any other political party. I joined the PTI because the party sent those to the Houses who had not even thought of entering them. I won’t practically contest election from any party,” he reiterated.

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Imran Khan’s bail request in the Toshakhana-II case has had its objections dismissed.

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In the Toshakhana-II case, the Islamabad High Court has dismissed the objections to PTI founder Imran Khan’s bail request.

IHC instructed the registrar’s office to schedule the hearing for the case for Monday.

Imran Khan’s attorneys, Shaheena Shahab, Ayesha Khalid, and others, arrived in court today as IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

The registrar’s objections to the plea were questioned by Justice Aurangzeb. In the Toshakhana-II case, Imran Khan submitted a bail application, according to counsel Ayesha Khalid.

Justice Miangul said that previous rulings in circumstances comparable to this one adhered to the consistency principle. In this instance, the petitioner was a man, he added.

Bushra Bibi was given bail because she was a woman, according to the justice, and an application like this one was denied yesterday.

Given that the case action date was November and the power of attorney was executed in July, Justice Aurangzeb raised a concern about the timing.

Justice requested the help of Advocate Shah Khawar in this case.

When an applicant was held in jail, Shah Khawar retorted that it was standard procedure to obtain signatures on required documents, such as a power of attorney.

Imran Khan’s attorney, Shaheena Shahab, asked the court to send out notices regarding the bail plea. A judge named Aurangzeb said that the law would be observed.

Following arguments, the court dismissed the registrar office’s objections and ordered that the case hearing be scheduled for Monday.

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PTI presents seven nominations to Imran Khan for the judicial commission.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proposed seven individuals to its founder, Imran Khan, for consideration as founding members of PTI for membership in the next Judicial Commission.

None of the nominated individuals are attorneys; rather, the roster includes four Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and three senators.

The proposed MNAs are Umar Ayub, Asad Qaiser, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Aamir Dogar, while the senators are Shibli Faraz, Mohsen Aziz, and Aun Abbas Bapi. Sources suggest that the Judicial Commission will include one opposition member from both the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PTI founder will evaluate and endorse two names from the suggested list, which will then be sent to the Speaker for future actions.

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Miller confirmed that Biden’s administration got a letter from a congressman requesting the release of the PTI founder.

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Following his removal as prime minister in 2022, Khan started a protest movement against a coalition of his enemies led by current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Since then, he has been in jail since August 2023 and has been involved in hundreds of cases.

In response to ARY News’ question over the congressmen’s letter during a media briefing in Washington on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, “We will respond in due course to the members.”

The United States wants to see Pakistan maintain its democracy, Miller stated.

The release of the PTI founder’s wife and sisters was a result of a meeting between the US Deputy Assistant Secretary and a Pakistani government representative in Islamabad, which was further questioned during the press briefing.

“I won’t be addressing that,” Miller said when asked if the United States was involved in their release. Miller did, however, affirm that the conference included the defense of Pakistan’s basic liberties and rights.

Sixty-two members of the US Congress urged President Joe Biden on October 24 to support the release of Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and other political prisoners.

The congressmen, who included well-known Muslim members Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, said in their letter that the Biden administration should ask Pakistani authorities to guarantee the safety of PTI founder Imran Khan.

They also underlined that US policy should concentrate on Pakistan’s human rights situation and asked that US ambassadors attend the PTI leader’s incarceration.

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