Chaudhry, senior vice president of the PTI, leaves the party, General Secretary Umar resigns.
Islamabad, Pakistan – A senior vice president of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice, PTI) has left the party as the secretary-general resigns, another blow to embattled ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Fawad Chaudhry, the senior vice president and former federal minister, tweeted that he was “saying goodbye” to Khan and the party.
“I have decided to take a break from politics, so I have resigned from the party position and parted ways with Imran Khan,” Chaudhry wrote.
Hours later, at a press conference in the capital Islamabad, Asad Umar announced that he was also stepping down from his leadership position but added that he would remain a PTI member.
“Given the events of May 9, it is untenable for me to continue in the leadership position of the party, so I am resigning from the position of secretary general and my membership of the core committee,” said Umar, who was relieved of a two weeks earlier in the evening in jail.
ref. My earlier statement unequivocally condemning the May 9 incidents, I have decided to take a break from politics, therefore I resigned from the party position and parted ways with Imran Khan
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 24, 2023
With their resignations, Chaudhry and Umar join more than two dozen other leaders of ex-Prime Minister Khan’s PTI who have left their positions or left the party since his arrest earlier this month.
On Tuesday, former Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari left PTI after being detained several times since May 12, when she was first arrested over the deadly protests that followed Khan’s arrest.
Chaudhry and Umar were also arrested in Islamabad on May 10 on public order charges. Chaudhry told reporters after he was released a week later that he condemned the violence provoked by Khan’s arrest.
“Pakistan exists because the Pakistani military exists, and we need to develop our policies that keep this position at the forefront,” Chaudhry told reporters after his release.
During his press conference on Wednesday, Umar also condemned the violence.
“Almost everyone condemned what happened on May 9, but I want to talk about why those incidents were dangerous for the country. Lives were lost, people were injured and state and private property damaged,” he said.
“But the most dangerous thing was that military-related installations were attacked.”
As more politicians left the ship, PTI chief Khan tweeted: “We had all heard about forced marriages in Pakistan, but a new phenomenon has emerged for PTI, forced divorces.”
We had all heard about forced marriages in Pakistan, but for PTI a new phenomenon has emerged, forced divorces.
I also wonder where all the human rights organizations in the country have disappeared.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 23, 2023
The desertion exacerbates Khan’s problems as the 70-year-old politician faces more than 100 court cases and tries to avoid being arrested again.
Speaking to reporters at a court in Islamabad on Tuesday, Khan claimed his party leaders were forced to leave without saying who did it.
“People don’t give up, they are forced to leave the party at gunpoint,” he said. “Political parties cannot be dismantled through such tactics.”