ISLAMABAD: Following months of speculation and rumours about possible defections from the Pakistan Peoples Party, the first batch of PPP leaders formally announced their decision to join the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Led by former minister of state for information Samsam Bokhari, a number of former PPP lawmakers from Okara made the announcement after meeting PTI chief Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence.

Ironically, Okara is also the hometown of current PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattoo.

In a short statement before the media, Mr Bokhari said PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari’s continued policy of conciliation with the ruling PML-N in Punjab had made them virtually redundant in the province’s political sphere and forced them to change sides. “Over the last two years, we have been feeling like the PML-N’s B-team, which was totally against the PPP’s ideology.”

Others who announced their allegiance to the PTI on Wednesday included former PPP MPA Ashraf Sohna and ticket holder Mohammad Arif Lashari. Next to them was Malik Amir Dogar, a former PPP lawmaker who beat Javed Hashmi in the National Assembly elections from Multan as an independent candidate. The former PML-N MPA from Mandi Bahauddin, Ikramullah, also declared his commitment to the PTI on the occasion.

Samsam Bukhari, Ashraf Sohna join hands with Imran Khan; more leaders may leave the party

According to a PTI insider, politicians from some other parties are also expected to announce their defection to the PTI in the days to come. Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, a former federal minister and PML-Q lawmaker; and Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, a twice-elected district nazim from Jhelum, are set to join the PTI in a few days.

Mr Altaf is the son of former Punjab governor Chaudhry Altaf Hussain. Former PPP leader and TV personality Fawad Chaudhry, who is related to both men, confirmed their decision to Dawn.

A prominent politician, Samsam Bokhari was PPP’s information secretary and senior vice president in Punjab, while Ashraf Sohna was PPP president for Okara district.

The district-level party leadership has reportedly been against Mr Wattoo’s appointment as chief of the PPP in Punjab in October 2012. However, fearing the wrath of the PPP co-chairman, nobody within the party raised their voice against Mr Wattoo, whose elevation to the position of Punjab president was always opposed within the rank and file of the party, a sitting PPP MNA told Dawn.

When asked why PPP leaders had chosen this particular time to bid farewell to their party, a senior PPP office-bearer told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the defecting members definitely had reservations about Mr Wattoo. But, he said, the undercurrents of Punjab’s politics had transformed over a couple of years, turning it into a PML-N versus PTI battleground.

“With both father and son refusing to awake from their long slumber in Sindh, what other possible avenue is there for party workers who want to stay politically relevant in the province,” he asked, rhetorically.

Former Public Accounts Committee chairman Nadeem Afzal Chan told Dawn that Chairman Bilawal Zardari Bhutto had convened a special meeting in Karachi on Thursday to take up the matter.

“This is a serious development that cannot go unnoticed. As far as I am concerned, I will definitely urge the party leadership to take some concrete measures if they are interested in getting the party back on its feet in Punjab,” he said.

In a separate statement issued on Wednesday, PPP South Punjab Secretary General Shaukat Mahmood Basra said: “When the party stays firm-footed on its principles, it has to face resistance at one point or the other. Those who are troubled by this and try to jump ship will only have to face embarrassment in the future.”

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2015

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