PESHAWAR: At the much-publicised Raiwind march, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf hopes to present a united front against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.
Instead, at this inopportune moment, intra-party differences between the PTI’s secretary general, Jahangir Khan Tareen, and the Insaf youth wing have come into the limelight.
On Sunday, reports emerged that the PTI’s youth wing was printing posters demanding Mr Tareen’s removal. The revolt started in response to his decision of dissolving the party’s youth, labour and women wings.
Ali Abbas Bukhari, who was the central president of the dissolved youth wing, criticised the decision, explaining that Mr Tareen’s plan was to remove the three wings from the centre and replace them with a regional presidential system.
“We do not accept Jahangir Tareen’s decision,” Mr Bukhari told Dawn. He believes that this decentralisation “formula” will only weaken the party.
Ashraf Sohna, who was central president of the dissolved labour wing, agrees. He criticised Mr Tareen for replacing a functional administrative structure with a “temporary regional arrangement”.
Mr Sohna questioned the timing of the decision. “Right now we should avoid discussions which are bound to upset some people in the party.” He said the PTI should stand together at this time.
Mr Tareen said at a press conference in Islamabad on Monday that the PTI would again invite other parties to join the rally, and went on to dispel reports of a revolt. “We are a family. Even if we have disagreements, we speak to each other.”
He said people who brought these disagreements out in the public were working on the PML-N’s agenda.
Despite these claims, the disputes are apparent when members of the dissolved wings speak.
Mr Sohna and Mr Bukhari said they had held a three-hour-long meeting with PTI chairman Imran Khan over the dissolution of the wings. They claimed that the chairman had agreed that the decisions should have been taken after consulting the stakeholders.
Munaza Hassan, who was leading the women wing, was informed of the decision through a notification. She accepted the decision, but admits that this has “disturbed the party”.
The new plan was the result of fear rather than an attempt at good governance, some PTI sources believe. “Strong wings, especially the youth, had become a threat for the mother party at the centre and in provinces. This was the main reason behind dissolution of all wings,” says a party member.
While several party leaders were reportedly irked with the interference of the wings’ officeholders in the party’s affairs, they are unhappy with the dissolution decision just ahead of the Raiwind march.
Shaukat Yousafzai, a PTI leader, said that, “wings mobilise workers; it has become very difficult to bring out workers and the public from their houses when the wings are disturbed”.
Mr Yousafzai also showed reservation on the new decentralisation system and said that provincial structure of wings was very important.
Two years ago, the party’s sit-in outside parliament drew a noteworthy crowd, but things are different this time.
A PTI supporter in Peshawar noted that Raiwind was too far from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “It will require more effort on the party’s part to make the rally a success,” he said.
Published in Dawn September 22nd, 2016
