ISLAMABAD: As PTI leaders continue to jump the ship in the wake of the May 9 violence, the party is making new appointments to fill up the ranks left by the old guards.

On Sunday, Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari was appointed as the adviser to PTI Chairman Imran Khan on international media.

PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan issued the notification of Mr Bukhari’s appointment with the PTI chairman’s approval.

A day earlier, PTI made important appointments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur given the charge of provincial chapter president. Ali Asghar Khan was appointed as PTI KP general secretary.

Party’s ex-CEC member Aftab Shah laments ‘being used as tissue paper’

Before Mr Gandapur, former KP chief minister Pervez Khattak was the head of PTI in KP. He resigned from the post on Thursday but didn’t quit the party.

Ex-CEC member lambasts Imran

Separately, a former member of PTI’s Central Executive Committee, Syed Aftab Hussain Shah, on Sunday lashed out at the party chairman over the attacks on military installations.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he condemned the May 9 violence after Mr Khan’s arrest. He said he was “with Pakistan first and then with the PTI”.

“We cast vote in favour of Imran Khan and sent him to the assembly but he resigned and has been sitting in Zaman Park Lahore,” Mr Shah said.

He lamented that politicians “use workers like tissue paper”.

Mr Shah said those found involved in attacks on military installations must be punished. He said he had been named in a case for allegedly torching a police station but he got bail.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2023