PESHAWAR: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide Pervez Khattak has formed a new party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Parliamentarians days after he was expelled from PTI, sources told JEE News on Monday.
Sources said that former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan and former legislators Shaukat Ali and Syed Muhammad Ishtiaq Umar are among the 57 former members of the assembly who have joined the party.
The development comes as the Khan-led PTI continues to struggle, with its chairman facing multiple lawsuits and the threat of impeachment, while several party leaders defected after May 9 – which PTI activists had wreaked havoc in the country and attacked military installations.
Khan’s former colleagues have also hurt his party in Punjab as Jahangir Tareen, Aleem Khan, and others considered close to the PTI chief formed the Isthakim Pakistan Party in June.
Khattak said he condemned the events of May 9 – for which several suspects will be given harsh sentences as the government and army are determined to try them in military courts.
“Our existence is directly linked to Pakistan. The PTI is now completely extinct in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said the former provincial chief minister, who holds a key position in the province’s politics.
Khattak, who served as PTI Secretary General and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister during the PTI regime, stepped down as PTI-KP president soon after the May 9 disaster.
However, earlier this week, the party sacked him for failing to respond to a “show cause notice” issued to him.
Sources told JEE News that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had also approached Pervez Khattak and asked him to join their parties.
However, Pervaiz Khattak has decided to form his own political party instead of joining any other party.
The move is a major setback for the PTI as it seeks to regain power and form the government in the upcoming general elections.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that his government’s term will end in mid-August, and that he plans to leave early.
