ISLAMABAD: Internal divisions within the PTI amid the incarceration of its founding chairman, Imran Khan, have become a matter of embarrassment for the party, particularly evident in the discord over the distribution of parliamentary and general body tickets.

Party leaders, while acknowledging such rifts as common in political entities during ticket allocations, express that the absence of Mr Khan has exacerbated these issues.

They lament that party leaders don’t have access to Mr Khan, imprisoned in Adiala Jail, whereas the lawyers who are allowed to meet him allegedly give either partial messages or twist messages according to their own interests.

Considering the situation, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has issued a notification, appointing Raoof Hasan as the “exclusive spokesperson” to streamline communication on policy matters.

Party names Raoof as ‘exclusive spokesperson’ to streamline communication on policy matters

The friction within the PTI became starkly apparent during the National Assembly ticket distribution.

Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat alleged nepotism in award of tickets. Even Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the interior minister during PTI’s tenure, alleged that the party’s ticket for the seat of MNA in Rawalpindi was sold for tens of millions of rupees.

Major differences emerged when it was announced that Barrister Ali Zafar would be the candidate for the party chairmanship. On that occasion, Mr Marwat said it meant Barrister Gohar had failed to deliver. Later, Barrister Gohar was again nominated as a candidate for the party chairmanship.

On the other hand, Mr Marwat, who was running the election campaign in provinces at the time, was told to stop his activities and summoned to Islamabad.

Similarly, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser suggested the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government not to cooperate with the federal government. However, MNA Ali Mohammad Khan said that it would be a wrong decision.

The award of Senate tickets also triggered criticism within the PTI ranks. On social media, a campaign was started against Mirza Mohammad Afridi, who was awarded the party’s Senate ticket. Mr Afridi alleged that some personalities, including the sitting and former MNAs from the erstwhile Fata, were doing propaganda against him.

Mr Afridi was elected as an independent senator in March 2018 on a general seat and later joined PTI. He also became the Senate’s deputy chairman and remained associated with PTI. However, after the last year’s May 9 violent protests, he criticised the riots by the PTI workers. The protests were triggered after the arrest of Imran Khan.

“In 2018, I was elected as an independent senator and later supported PTI. It is correct that I criticised the May 9 incident, but what I said, Imran Khan also used the same wordings,” Mr Afridi has stated. “I said that no one should attack military installations and Imran Khan also said that those who attacked military installations should be punished. I never announced quitting the party.”

Differences were quite visible, before and after the Feb 8 elections, over the issue of joining a parliamentary party.

Mr Marwat claimed that some elements within the party were responsible for making wrong decisions, and the party was deprived of reserved seats because of them.

A party representative, who asked not to be named, said differences within party leaders, especially over tickets distribution, were not unusual.

“However, we have been facing severe difficulties because our leader Imran Khan is under arrest,” he said, stressing that the issue of party leadership not being allowed to meet Mr Khan had aggravated the situation.

“In the past, Nawaz Sharif and leaders of other parties were arrested, but they were in contact with the first and second tiers of their party leadership. However, Imran Khan is not being allowed to meet any political leader of PTI. Only lawyers have been meeting Imran Khan, and they share either partial messages or twist them in their own interests,” he said.

The PTI leader added that to end the controversies, Barrister Gohar has appointed Raoof Hasan as the exclusive spokesperson to speak on party’s policy matters.

When contacted, Mr Hasan said there was no rift within the PTI. “Giving and sharing personal points of view is a normal routine in all the political parties. However, it has been decided that I will share the party policy, whereas statements of other party leaders regarding party policies will be considered their personal views,” he said.

“Imran Khan is the party leader and only he gives party policies directly or through personalities who meet him in jail. I will be the spokesperson for sharing those policies,” Raoof Hasan said.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024