PTI leaders challenge Murad Saeed’s confrontational push

ISLAMABAD: Key members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) political committee have expressed serious reservations about Murad Saeed’s unilateral announcement of a protest march in Swat on April 11.

The issue is expected to be raised with the party’s jailed founder, Imran Khan, who will ultimately decide whether to support the confrontational stance pushed by hawkish leaders like Murad Saeed or to allow moderates within the party to de-escalate tensions in pursuit of potential relief.

According to sources, US-based Pakistani doctors and businessmen, who recently met Imran Khan in Adiala Jail as well as a senior official in Islamabad, urged the PTI chief to rein in the party’s aggressive social media campaigns. However, there has been no clear signal yet from Khan directing his digital teams to tone down their rhetoric.

Senior PTI figures, including party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and several members of the political committee, are reportedly unhappy with Murad Saeed’s decision to call the protest without consultation or formal approval from the leadership.

“These decisions need the go-ahead from Imran Khan,” a senior party leader told this correspondent, adding that past protest marches and rallies have yielded little political gain and instead intensified pressure on the party and its jailed leadership.

The current sentiment among many in the PTI — and particularly among overseas supporters attempting to broker some form of reconciliation between the establishment and Khan — is shifting towards dialogue rather than confrontation.

“Neither has the expected international pressure materialised nor has aggressive politics brought us relief,” a party insider said. “We’ve also realised that the judiciary is unlikely to deliver what we hoped for. Dialogue remains the best option, but it cannot succeed in the presence of hostile social media.”