Lahore:
The PTI is struggling with the internal divisions on the calendar and the strategy for a national demonstration aimed at ensuring the release of its imprisoned founder, the former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Discord, mainly between the central leadership of the party and its chapter of Punjab, increased as the proposed date of August 5 for advanced protest approaches, marking two years since the imprisonment of Khan.
Central management – including the president of the lawyer Gohar Ali Khan and Khyber -Pakhtunkhwa, the chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur – pleaded for a 90 -day campaign culminating in a decisive demonstration, stressing a strategic accumulation to maximize the impact.
Gandapur, speaking during a press conference in Lahore on July 13, described the movement as an “do-gold” effort to challenge what PTI calls a “fascist regime” and to guarantee the release of Khan. He stressed that the campaign would involve mobilizing supporters in each district and Tehsil, with a peak by August 5, after which a new phase would be announced.
On the other hand, the chief organizer of PTI Punjab, Aliya Hamza Malik, firmly supported an immediate demonstration on August 5, aligning with a call attributed to Imran Khan via his sister, Aleema Khan. Malik would have threatened to resign if the party departs from this date, highlighting a lack of coordination with the central management.
Sources indicate that Malik has already ordered the organization of the party’s punjab to prepare for the demonstration of August 5, mobilizing workers in districts such as Okara, Toba Tek Singh, Pakpattan, Faisalabad and Chiniot.
The Rift has become public when Malik, excluded from a key strategy meeting in Lahore, expressed her frustration on X. In a series of messages, she questioned the origins of the “90 -day plan” and asked for the clarity of the movement’s objectives, declaring: “The objective and the target is only the release of Imran Khan.”
His absence of the meeting – which included Gandapur, the secretary general of the PTI Salman Akram Raja, and the opposition chief of the Punjab assembly, Malik Ahmad Bhachar – were rejected by Raja as “because of his other commitments”, an assertion Malik refuted sarcastically, noting that she was not aware of his supposed affairs.
However, Aleema Khan, addressing the media, welcomed the rally of Lahore as a sign of unity among the parliamentarians of the PTI but expressed his ignorance with regard to the exclusion of Malik, declaring: “We were told that it was a meeting of parliamentarians.”
She reaffirmed Imran Khan’s call for the demonstrations to be culminated on August 5, noting that all her family, including her sons based in the United Kingdom, would participate.
Barrister Gohar tried to repress discord, urging managers to respond to concerns through internal parties rather than public forums. “If a leader has a complaint, they should inform me directly,” he said. However, this public spit has raised concerns about cohesion among the ranks of the PTI at a critical moment, some analysts suggesting that it reflects deeper problems of centralization and confidence within the party.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government, led by chief minister Maryam Nawaz, reported a firm position against potential disorders.
Punjab Minister of Information, Azma Bukhari, recognized the Pacific right of protest, but accused the PTI of having history of violence – a reference to the incidents of May 9, 2023. “No political party is authorized to attack with weapons,” said Bukhari.
