Newsmaker 2017: Ayesha Gulalai

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Oh, Ayesha Gulalai. It is a sad, confusing tale whichever way you look at it. Trust the rabid PTI

lot and you’re of the opinion that she’s doing the devil’s work and trying to slander Imran Khan’s good name in exchange for money and promises of power.

An ugly picture if there ever was one.

Trust Ayesha Gulalai and you’re of the opinion that she was sent dirty text messages by her party Chairman, Imran Khan.

An uglier picture if there ever was one.

The entire fiasco has, over the course of the year, turned into one ugly, seething, never-ending, and plainly speaking, weird dilemma. Yet for all the twists and turns, it has managed to loom over everything the PTI has done over the last half of 2017.

Gulalai going on TV and not doing a particularly good job when faced with the brash dismissals and questioning of Kashif Abbasi and Mubasher Lucman, which should warrant some sort of harassment allegations in and of themselves, did not do much for her claims.

Her insistence of sticking to her parliamentary seat, something she is well within her rights to do, has also been made out by the PTI lot as love for power – Something that PTI fans for some odd reason seem to think Imran Khan is not afflicted by.

Her decision to wear a turban to parliament as a stand against male dominance has also not done much to endear her to the public, and neither has her recent formation of a political party.

Amid this hue-and-cry, the more serious problem of the ECP not suspending her membership even after she decided to form her own party has taken a back seat, and very much so because of the PTI’s own engagement of her through half-clever wordplay like ‘Gul-a-lie.’

While her choices may not be the smartest, they did make for major news up until the end of the year.

As was perhaps made evident by Geo news, which covered Miss Gulalai’s accusations live the entire time Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was being elected and sworn in as prime minister. That bit was relegated to a simple in-frame with ticker.