Sarwar not happy with PTI leadership over intra-party issues

LONDON: Former Punjab governor and PTI senior leader Muhammad Sarwar is not happy in the way party affairs are being run and that’s the reason why he has not returned to Pakistan in over a month.

The former Punjab governor came to Glasgow ahead of Eidul Fitr and since then he has stayed in Glasgow and doesn’t have a return date, a source close to Sarwar said.

The source said that Muhammad Sarwar worked hard for intra-party elections and campaigned across Punjab to win democratic mandate of party workers but the indefinite postponement of party elections has disheartened Sarwar who had great hope of winning the prized post of PTI’s leadership in Punjab. “Muhammad Sarwar accepted decisions of Imran Khan and he had no choice but he feels that his hard work has gone down the drain and what happened in terms of the postponement of intra-party elections was undemocratic and Muhammad Sarwar feels passionately about that,” said the source.

Officially, Sarwar’s supporters have said that he has been in Glasgow for the extended time period because “he’s getting medical treatment from his doctors and decided to cancel his return to Pakistan which was scheduled soon after Eid.” He will return to Pakistan when he’s fully fit, said one source but he agreed that Sarwar is of the view that PTI’s party affairs are being run in undemocratic manner and what happened in reference to intra-party election campaign has actually widened the differences within the PTI.

The former Labour parliamentarian from Glasgow Gowan and Britain’s first Muslim MP quit his British nationality to become the Governor of Punjab. During the exile of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif as well as Benazir Bhutto, Sarwar grew close to them and campaigned for democracy in Pakistan. PM Nawaz Sharif’s decision to make Sarwar governor of Punjab made headlines and it was hailed as a great breakthrough for overseas Pakistanis.

Differences started to emerge when Sarwar started complaining about lack of powers and his inability to serve the people while being a ceremonial but important and influential role. It was during dharna by PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) when reports emerged that Sarwar was in cahoots with the dharna organisers and Sharifs thought that Sarwar stabbed them in the back in hope of becoming a key figure in any future government set-up. Sarwar has denied this but he has not denied that he enjoyed close relations with key dharna figures.

He joined PTI amid pomp and show but differences soon emerged when factions within PTI traded barbs at each other and it became apparent that Sarwar enjoyed alliance with Jahangir Tareen while Shah Mehmood Qureshi and some Lahore PTI leaders opposed him.

It was during the intra-party elections campaign when Shah Mehmood Qureshi openly blasted both Sarwar and Tareen and it was soon after that that Imran Khan intervened and announced that the PTI intra-party elections will be postponed.

The source said that internal bickering within the PTI on this issue has intensified and the same old groups are actively involved in sideling each other. It was in this background that Imran said this week that those unhappy with the party decisions might leave the party and joined any other party of their choice.

When The News contacted Naeemul Haq, Central Information Secretary of PTI, he said it was not in his knowledge that Sarwar was unhappy in PTI. He, however, confirmed that Sarwar “is being given an important responsibility in the new set-up to be announced soon.”