The PTI has suffered another blow with former minister Fawad Chaudhry announcing he would take a break from politics and part ways with the party.
In a tweet, the former vice president of the PTI announced his resignation from the party position.
“My earlier statement where I unequivocally condemned the 9th May incidents, I have decided to take a break from politics, therefore, I have resigned from party position and parting ways from Imran Khan,” he said.
Fawad was initially arrested outside the Supreme Court (SC) on May 11, two days after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was also detained. The party’s statement said the arrest was carried out despite Fawad having been granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court till May 12.
On May 16, Fawad Chaudhry, who avoided arrest by running inside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building, finally got relief after the high court barred the police from arresting him in any “undisclosed” case for two days.
Following the events of May 9, Fawad is not the first PTI member to leave the party.
On Tuesday, two senior party leaders, Shireen Mazari, and Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, announced they were leaving the party. On the same day, PTI’s Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri announced parting ways with the party and blamed former prime minister Imran Khan for the violence that ensued on May 9.
Salman Qureshi, a councilor-elect of the PTI, announced parting ways with his party on Saturday.
Last week, Amir Mehmood Kiyani left the party, saying May 9 violence was a painful event for everyone.
PTI MNA from Karachi, Mohamood Moulvi has also announced to quit the party over May 9 vandalism against military installations. Mahmood, who was PTI’s MNA from Karachi’s NA-25, also announced his resignation from the seat.
PTI chief Imran Khan claimed on Tuesday that members of his party were being forced to leave the party at “gunpoint”.
Speaking to journalists at an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad, Imran said: “People are not leaving the party on their own, they are being forced to do so, and that too at gunpoint”.
However, he maintained that he was not bothered about the development as PTI’s vote bank was set to increase following recent events.