PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan’s prolonged immobility due to skull and back injuries has been delaying the formation of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet and end to wrangling among the ruling party’s members of the provincial assembly over portfolios, it is learnt.
On May 7, Imran Khan fell off a makeshift lift during an election rally in Lahore.
Doctors asked him to remain immobile until he fully recovered from skull and back injuries.
Insiders have said PTI, which have the most seats in the provincial assembly, is struggling to resolve differences within itself and with Jamaat-e-Islami, one of its coalition parties, over ministries.
They said the PTI provincial leadership didn’t have powers to name MPAs for ministerial slots and therefore, it looked towards Imran Khan for a decision on it.
The insiders said the bedridden PTI chief had been holding meetings on the matter at his Lahore house despite instructions by doctors to take complete rest.
They said JI wanted to get things done by Imran Khan instead of the PTI provincial leadership, which, it felt, backed out of its commitment on ministerial portfolios.
“Imran Khan is likely to take the oath as a member of the National Assembly on June 14. Before that, he will undergo a fitness test at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Lahore, where he was treated after the May 27 fall from the lift,” an insider said.
Local PTI leaders said after recovering from injuries, Imran Khan would resolve the issue of the cabinet formation and address the complaints of workers, who had been feeling sidelined since the May 11 elections.
“We hope once he (Imran Khan) is back in the business, everything will get better,” said a PTI leader.
He said PTI faced a big problem: it secured a vote from the people on the basis of ideology and due to the slogan of ending status quo and corruption but most of the MPAs elected on its ticket had recently joined the party and sidelined the old guards.“Most of the tickets went to newcomers to our anxiety. However, we won’t leave the party and will continue with our fight for rights in a democratic way,” a PTI old guard said.
He said the activists not considered for a ticket previously despite long association with the party would feel honored if they were fielded in by-elections on three Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National Assembly seats vacated by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in Nowshera, provincial assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar in Swabi and PTI chairman Imran Khan in Peshawar.
“There’s a growing anger among activists at the award of seats reserved for women to wrong candidates. All that was in contradiction of the party’s programme which not only seeks a change but discourage certain families’ dominance in politics,” he said.
The old guard said Imran Khan and other top leaders was convinced that nepotism had been the main criteria for the award of women seats and therefore, they would check the award of tickets in future to relatives of influential people.
“The party’s provincial leadership is under pressure to deliver. We are confident that the dust will settle down once Imran recovers from injuries and takes charge of the affairs,” he said.
The PTI sources said the leadership had ordered preparation of lists of honest and capable bureaucrats to be appointed to key posts in the province.
“Things are in place to execute the PTI plans for reforms in education, health and other social sectors. However, all this is linked to Imran Khan’s appearance on political scene,” a source said.
