Absence from PTI meeting: Imran installs Sardar Niazi as party’s AJK president

ISLAMABAD: Reacting to the absence of the majority of members of PTI AJK’s parliamentary party from the party huddle, former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has installed new party leadership to replace the absentee ‘rebels’.

Following the election of the new prime minister in AJK, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had summoned a party meeting in Lahore two days ago where only seven members of the PTI Parliamentary Party, including former senior minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmad, former prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayoom Niazi, MP from Lahore Dewan Ghulam Mohiuddin, Gujranwala’s Maqbool Gujjar, Sailkot’s Hafiz Hamid Raza, MP from Overseas Mohammad Iqbal and from Poonch Sardar Mohammad Hussain turned up.

Taking a stern view of the situation, according to sources, Imran Khan installed former prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayoom Niazi as president of PTI AJK and former senior minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmad as Opposition Leader in the Legislative Assembly. He also nominated Maqbool Gujjar as the candidate for the speaker of the house to contest against the joint candidate of PMLN-PPP, Chaudhary Latif Akbar.

During the process, Imran also stripped former AJK PM and PTI leader Tanvir Ilyas of the party presidency. The meeting also decided that any leader who does not cast vote for Maqbool Gujjar would lose basic party membership. The PTI meeting declared the newly-elected prime minister Chaudhary Anwarul Haq as a ‘rebel’ and decided not to cooperate with him and warned those joining his cabinet would also be proceeded against for violation of party discipline.

Imran Khan was seriously put off by the absence of President AJK Barrister Sultan Mahmood, former prime minister AJK Tanvir Ilyas, new Prime Minister Chaudhary Anwarul Haq and other members of the group from the meeting, sources said.

The PTI chairman said the people of the AJK had voted for the party manifesto and not for any person and that he would not brook any pressure. He told the newly-nominated party leaders to serve and work for the people while representing them from the opposition benches.