ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s move to land the opposition leader’s office in the National Assembly suffered another setback as reports of differences emerging in between the party surfaced on Wednesday.
Cracks emerged as it was stated that the PTI has not decided on fielding Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the opposition leader, as well as the issue of support from the Pakistan Muslim League Quaid (PML-Q).
After PTI chief Imran Khan chaired a meeting on Wednesday, party authorities stated that talks are ongoing for the potential candidature of the future opposition leader , this came as a twist in the plot as the same party had stated its desire to replace the Pakistan People’s Party leader Khursheed Shah with their own Shah Mehmood Qureshi last week.
There is also talk of fielding Imran Khan for the post of opposition leader, an in house support campaign for Imran Khan was launched by Mardan MNA Ali Mohammad Khan as he tweeted “If any change of guard happens in NA, Insha Allah, Imran Khan will be our opposition leader and prime minister,” and shared an image of his party chief on twitter.
PTI and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders met on Wednesday and discussed the situation, the MQM agreed to support the PTI in its move to replace the opposition leader.
Meanwhile Shah Mehmood Qureshi refuted claims of being nominated as the opposition leader by the MQM and stated that talks are ongoing and there would be no nomination until they garner enough numbers.
The PML-Q complained of not being involved in the process and stated that party chief Chaudhary Shujaat being one of the senior most politicians in the country needs to be dealt with respectufully and should be involved in this process and a senior party member stated that they had decided to distance themselves from this process but would re-think the decision if Imran Khan himself initiates talks between the parties.
Mean while Khursheed Shah and his party remain relatively calm stating that the other parties are permitted to nominate new candidates for a new opposition leader and that this move will not garner enough support so it should not be taken seriously.
The 32-member PTI is set to be backed by four Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) members and also includes the support of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed followed by some independent candidates like Jamshed Dasti as well.
Meanwhile, the 47 member PPP will be backed by two Awami National Party (ANP) members and one MNA each from the Balochistan National Party and the Qaumi Watan Party respectively.
