PESHAWAR: After Amanullah Khan, another PML-N provincial vice president, Mohammad Afzal Panyala, has quit the Nawaz Sharif-led party over differences with the party.

Mohammad Afzal Panyala told Dawn on Saturday evening that he quit PML-N and would soon join another political party along with dozens of the party’s office-bearers and relatives.

He said like many other senior leaders of the party, he had ‘very serious’ differences with the leadership and that he had stopped taking part in political activities long ago.

“We cannot salute the PML-N leadership any longer as we have no status in its eyes. The only option left with us is to quit the PML-N and join some other party,” he said.

Panyala claimed many leaders were ready to part ways with the PML-N over the policies of Sharif brothers.

He said he had served the party for 22 years, secured 17,000 votes as the PML-N candidate against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan in the NA-1 constituency in the last general elections, and had great respect among political circles.

“My family played an active role for the party when Nawaz Sharif was in crisis but after the party came to power in the centre, the leadership ignored us,” he said.

He said the former PML-N candidates from Peshawar district, including Mohammad Adeel, Zakaullah and Said Akbar, stood by him and would join the party of his choice.

Earlier in the day, an official handout claimed that Panyala along with a group of his supporters held a meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak at the Chief Minister’s House and announced that he had joined the PTI.

Another PML-N leader and former Gulberg union council nazim Azam Afridi also resigned from his party and joined PTI.

Former provincial ministers Shaukat Yousafzai and Yaseen Khalil, PTI provincial president Azam Swati and Peshawar district general secretary Younas Zaheer was also present in the meeting.

However, Panyala told Dawn that his meeting with the chief minister was not for joining the PTI and he had to discuss with him ‘some other issues.’

“I along with my supporters will announce the joining of any political party at a press conference after two days,” he said.

He said it was up to his supporters to choose a party for future.

Referring to the resignation of another PML-N provincial vice president Amanullah Khan of Adezai Peshawar, Panyala said the senior office-bearers had begun parting ways with the party due to Nawaz Sharif’s rude attitude towards them and workers.

He said the party leadership could only help out workers in matters like recruitment, transfers and postings.

“Being part of PML-N, we are unable to appoint or transfer any of our workers,” he said.

Panyala said the party leadership would realise its mistakes once he joined other party in the next two days.

He asked other party workers to join him saying this will help them decide future course of action.

“The PML-N position in the province is fast weakening. My group’s decision to quit the party will make things worse,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play