Daily Times

In a major political development, former Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak on Thursday stepped down from party position. In a video statement, Pervez Khattak who was accompanied by former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, announced quitting as PTI KP President.

Pervez Khattak who also served as Defense Minister in Imran Khan’s government said that he had taken the decision after “consulting friends”.

Pervez Khattak said he was resigning from the party position and would decide about the future course of action after further consulting friends and party workers. He rejected the propaganda being played on television and said he had taken the decision after careful consideration. Asad Qaiser was also briefly seen in the video but did not speak. Pervez Khattak was a seasoned politician and his leaving of PTI was a great setback for Imran Khan especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Enraged by the PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest, party workers and supporters allegedly pillaged government and military installations on May 9. To contain the violence, the government called in the army and announced that the protesters would be tried under army laws. Following the violent incidents, a large number of PTI workers and leaders have been arrested in an almost countrywide crackdown.

Interestingly, Khattak’s press conference came after former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser’s spokesperson claimed that he was unable to connect with both politicians.

The spokesperson had also said that Qaiser and Khattak went to meet someone at an undisclosed location at 11am and were unreachable since then.

As this news spread, rumours suggested that both leaders will be asked to leave the party. However, Khattak in the press conference dismissed those reports.

“The propaganda that is going on is not correct, [I took] the decision after a lot of thought,” the PTI stalwart said.

It is unclear whether Qaiser has taken any decision about his political future as he was present with Khattak in the press conference but left without saying anything.