‘No wickets falling in PTI’

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Shafqat Mahmood on Sunday rejected a news item published in Pakistan Today on Sunday titled “Wickets begin to fall in PTI”. In a press statement, Mahmood said that he had spoken to Jamal Leghari, Owais Leghari, Amin Aslam and Khawaja Khan Hoti, and that they denied the report. “They have denied the story. The truth is that no one is leaving the party and all the sources quoted to substantiate this are anonymous. It is also completely untrue that the party has been hijacked by technocrats. The PTI is the only national party that is conducting real elections within in the months of September and October. Whatever leadership emerges out of this process would be elected by every member of the party and there would be no nominations. Under these circumstances the question of any person or group hijacking the party does not arise,” the information secretary said. He also denied that PTI chief Imran Khan had tried to impress party colleagues by mentioning his former in laws, the Goldsmiths. “Mr Khan is not the kind of person who would make such claims and attributing such things to him makes absolutely no sense. Also suggesting that Mr Shah Mahmood Qureshi or Mr Javed Hashmi are feeling sidelined is ridiculous. Mr Hashmi is the president of the party and Mr Qureshi is its vice chairman,” he said. Mahmood also rejected that the PTI had any support from the establishment. In a message posted on his facebook account, Sardar Jamal Leghari also denied the report. “Sardar Jamal Leghari and Awais Leghari would like to clarify that they have no intention of parting ways from PTI,” Leghari posted on facebook. “Awais Leghari stands in line with the decisions of PTI and has no aspirations for any post in the party. It is pertinent to mention here that he gave up the post of Senior Vice President PML Q to join PTI unconditionally in the struggle against corruption by the present Federal and provincial governments. The Leghari brothers took a principled stand when they opted to join forces with PTI and they stand by their decision as long as the PTI will continue to struggle against all corrupt elements of political society,” Leghari added.