Imran Khan stops return of PTI defectors to party until his release from jail

Incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has formed a 7-member committee to determine the return of leaders who left the party following the May 9 riots in 2023.

The committee, headed by party vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, includes Asad Qaiser, Hamid Khan, Shehryar Afridi, Barrister Gohar Khan, Shibli Faraz, and Shandana Gulzar Khan.

According to sources, the committee will review the cases of leaders who abandoned the party and decide whether to allow their return.

Shandana Gulzar will focus on the cases of female leaders and the reasons behind their departure, sources added.

The committee will submit a final list of names to Imran Khan, who will make the ultimate decision.

The former prime minister has also halted the return of any leaders until his release from prison.

Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9, 2023, triggered violent protests across the country, in which several military and civil installations were vandalised by PTI workers.

Following the riots, the crackdown was launched on the PTI to detain the suspect involved in the vandalism with the country’s top civil-military leadership vowing to try rioters under relevant laws of the country including the Army Act. 

The crackdown unleashed a mass exodus of leaders from the former ruling party.

Several PTI bigwigs, including Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari, Pervaiz Khattak, Fayazul Hassan Chohan, Aamer Mahmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi, Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, left the party condemning the May 9 incidents and accusing Imran Khan of plotting to attacks on defense properties.

However, many leaders, who switched their boats, hinted at joining PTI again after the Feb 8 polls, in which SIC members backed by Imran Khan's party emerged victorious.