PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman for Darra Adamkhel tehsil Shahid Bilal Afridi on Monday announced his exit from former prime minister Imran Khan’s party over the May 9 and 10 violent protests.

Mr Afridi told a presser at the Peshawar Press Club that he had won local body elections in the merged area as an independent candidate and his supporters forced him to join the PTI in 2021.

He, however, said he had parted ways with the PTI to protest the violence on May 9 and 10 following the arrest of its chairman Imran Khan.

“Attacks on government and military installations are intolerable and therefore, he has quit the PTI. Our first priority is our country. Party and politics come later,” he said. Mr Afridi said he would continue to serve his area. “I will decide about the joining of some other political party in consultation with my voters, relatives and tribal elders,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2023