As PTI exodus continues, Murad Raas becomes latest to jump ship

Lahore, MAY 26: As the crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) continues following the May 9 mayhem, former Punjab education minister Murad Raas has become the latest leader to quit the party.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday, Raas said no amount of condemnation was enough for what happened on May 9. “We never thought we would part ways with the party,” he said alongside other leaders, including Pir Ahmad Khagga, Raja Yawar Kamal and Chaudhry Adnan.

He laid the blame for the party’s current predicament — facing intense criticism with scores of leaders and thousands of workers arrested across the country following the riots — on Khan’s advisers in Lahore.

“We do not believe in the PTI’s politics of violence,” the former provincial minister said.

Raas said he and other politicians present at the press conference had decided to form a group so work on Pakistan’s progress could continue.

Earlier today, another PTI leader and former special assistant to the Punjab chief minister Firdous Ashiq Awan also announced her exit from the party.

Condemning the May 9 violence, she claimed that it was planned at Khan’s Zaman Park residence.

The heat
Khan’s party has been feeling the heat of the state’s might after his enraged PTI workers attacked military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commanders House and the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi after his arrest on May 9 — a day the army dubbed as “Black Day”.

Several party leaders and thousands of workers have been rounded up in connection with the violent protests and the army has insisted that the people involved in attacks on military installations be tried under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.

A close aide of Khan, Asad Umar, has relinquished his posts of secretary general and core committee member, citing the ongoing situation.

Several party leaders and lawmakers — including Shireen Mazari, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Maleeka Bokhari, and Mussarrat and Jamshed Cheema among others — have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said the federal government was considering imposing a ban on the PTI after receiving evidence that the party’s supporters carried out “pre-planned” and “coordinated” attacks on public properties and military installations.