MUZAFFARABAD:Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister and regional president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi, reiterated on Friday that there was no place in the party for Legislative Assembly members who had defected during difficult times in the region.

“There are clear instructions from Imran Khan regarding the renegade lawmakers: they should not be accepted back into the party,” he said while talking to a group of journalists here.

“They will neither receive party tickets for the next elections nor be appointed to any party office.”

Following the July 2021 elections, PTI had emerged as the largest party with 32 legislators in the 53-member assembly. However, the disqualification of then-AJK Premier Sardar Tanveer Ilyas by the AJK High Court in April last year initiated its decline, marked by the defection of a significant number of PTI legislators, including sitting Premier Chaudhry Anwarul Haq.

Currently, only six legislators remain openly affiliated with PTI and sit on the opposition benches.

“They [the defectors] have no connection with us, and under no circumstances will they be taken back into the party. There is no room in the party for those who proved disloyal,” Mr Niazi declared bluntly.

“The end of the political careers of those who betrayed and backstabbed the party and its imprisoned leader is inevitable. This is because they owe their election to Khan Sahib,” he added. Mr Niazi said he had advised PTI workers to distance themselves from the turncoats.

Regarding Mr Haq, he said: “I call upon all PTI workers to avoid any contact with him and confront him if they find him using the party’s name and flag.”

Conversely, Mr Niazi praised those who had remained loyal to the PTI during its most difficult times, calling them an invaluable asset. He assured that their commitment and sacrifices would not go unrewarded.

The former AJK Premier recalled that, as per Imran Khan’s instructions, legal action was to be initiated against all defectors. However, the proceedings had to be shelved due to the cancellation of the registration of political parties, including PTI, by the AJK election commission.

He claimed that after reorganization at the grassroots level, PTI had once again become the most popular political party in AJK and was poised to make a clean sweep in the next elections.

“As Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan fought for the cause of Kashmiris with forceful determination. Kashmiris all over the world are worried about him,” he said.

Mr Niazi urged PTI’s governing body members, as well as its divisional and district organisations, to continue the “Free Kashmir’s Ambassador Imran Khan” campaign with vigour.

“Our mission is to wage a peaceful struggle for Imran Khan’s release, and we will continue until he is freed,” he said, adding that any office bearers not active in the ongoing movement for Khan’s release would be removed from their positions.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024