MUZAFFARABAD: A group of founding workers of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the recently announced divisional, district and city’s organisational setups of their party for Muzaffarabad, terming them a glaring manifestation of ‘likes and dislikes’.

The concern was shown by them at a meeting held at a local hotel on Saturday, where party’s regional president Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi was asked to dissolve the “controversial bodies” and reconstitute the fresh ones on the basis of merit and in consultation with the “serious, sincere and genuine” PTI workers.

They vowed that in the event of inaction by Mr Niazi, the concerned party workers would convey the factual position to party’s incarcerated founding chairman Imran Khan,

“The new organisational setups should consist of the PTI workers who have rendered selfless services for the party for years and have potential of attracting public support in future,” they emphasised, adding that the former office-bearers should be accommodated in the new bodies at a better position than before so that the party could “reemerges as a powerful force” in Azad Kashmir.

The participants expressed the hope that the regional president would accept their demand and decide on merit in accordance with the party’s constitution.

A resolution was also passed on the occasion, calling for “immediate release of Mr Khan on the one hand and acceptance of the people’s mandate given in favour of PTI in the recently stolen elections.”

Prominent among those who spoke at the meeting were PTI’s former regional deputy secretary information Khalid Mughal, former divisional general secretary and member district council Muzaffarabad Raja Madad Ali Khan, Malik Jameel Ahmed and Shakil Shah,former president and general secretary, respectively, of PTI Traders Wing, former general secretary City Muzaffarabad Mohsin Awan, former president PTI youth wing in district Muzaffarabad Saqib Kayani, former general secretary Kotla Mumtaz Mughal, Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) member Abdullah Khan, former senior vice president PTI city Qadeer Kayani, former vice presidents of PTI city Ijaz Ahmed Khan and Fazal Mughal, former joint secretary Abid Awan and former general secretary youth wing Raja Imtiaz Ashraf.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024