GUJRAT: Two former lawmakers of the PTI from Gujrat on Tuesday announced quitting the party, appearing before the press after their “mysterious disappearance”.

Ex-MNA Syed Faizul Hassan Shah of Kulewal Syedan and ex-MPA Chaudhry Muhammad Arshad from Sara-i-Alamgir announced their decision at a news conference in Gujranwala.

Mr Shah said he had decided to leave the PTI and also condemned the May 9 violence.

Similarly, PTI ex-MPA Chaudhary Arshad also announced parting of ways with the party and his retirement from the electoral politics.

Mr Shah had been elected as PTI MNA in 2018 elections from the then NA-70 (now NA-65, Lalamusa-Dinga) by defeating two former federal ministers -- PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira and PML-N’s Jaafar Iqbal Fatta Bhand.

Mr Arshad had been thrice elected an MPA from Sara-i-Alamgir’s then PP-34 (now PP-27). Before joining the PTI in 2018, he had been elected as an MPA from PML-Q platform. Both former MPAs had allegedly been picked up by law-enforcement agencies (LEA).

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023