ISLAMABAD: Admitting that there were hypocrites within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has warned them against harming the party, The News reported on Wednesday.
"I am warning them that you are harming the party, our first goal is to unite and protect the country and the Constitution," Gandapur said while speaking to the media outside Rawalpindi's Adial Jail. He added thatsome people in the party were working on an agenda.
Regretting that meetings were hindered due to internal divisions in the party, the CM said that "false allegations and political propaganda are the cause of our loss".
The firebrand PTI leader's remarks come days after he admitted tensions and groupings exist within the former ruling party — but firmly denied creating them himself.
He alleged that instead of participating, his critics would only level accusations against him. He also criticised those who limit activism to social media, remarking that revolutions are not achieved through short videos or fake accounts.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media a day earlier, the CM higlihgted his efforts for the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan and said: "No one has made as much efforts as I have to bring the PTI founder out [of jail], big marches and rallies in the country’s history have been held [but] can anyone fight the state".
Expanding on the issue of negotiations, he reiterated the PTI founder's stance where he has said that: "If you are ready for negotiations, then sit down and talk, the talk will be with the one who has the authority, our government was overthrown, were Afghan refugees responsible for this? We are trying in our province to send Afghan refugees back with honour and tradition."
Gandapur's remarks come against the backdrop of persisting legal and political woes of the PTI whose senior leadership, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been behind bars owing to a plethora of cases, primarily conerning the May 9 riots which saw miltiary installations being vandalised by mobs following Khan's arrest in 2023.
The party, has attempted to hold public rallies and initiate movements but has been met with crackdown and mass arrests.
The PTI lawmakers have recently been resigning from various parliamentary committees from both the National Assembly and the Senate as part of the PTI founder's political strategy to build political pressure.