F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: At a time when many of the PTI leaders and former lawmakers are dissociating themselves from the party, Asad Qaiser – the National Assembly speaker – on Monday made it clear that he had not switched sides.
He was standing by the party and in contact with the PTI chief, Qaiser told reporters outside a local court where he attended the hearing of a case pertaining to the vandalism outside the federal capital’s judicial complex. “I am with [Pakistan] Tehreek-e-Insaf and in touch with the PTI chairman.”
The latest assertion is in complete contrast with what the people had seen last week when Pervez Khattak, addressing a presser in Islamabad along with Qaiser, had announced his decision to quit as the PTI president.
However, Qaiser remained silent during the event where Khattak had condemned the May 9 mayhem and said it wasn’t possible for him to continue as a PTI office holder, adding that he would announce his future plan later after consulting his friends and party colleagues.
And on Monday, Qaiser said he wasn’t in contact with Jahangir Tareen. He was replying to question about whether Tareen had contacted him as the influential politician from Lodharan is currently busy in forming a new political party mostly comprising the PTI defectors.
Qaiser repeated his position that he was still in the PTI when a reporter pressed him about the claim made by Fawad Chaudhry who had talked about contacting the former speaker and other party leaders.
Earlier in the day, PTI’s former general secretary Asad Umar said that Tareen had not reached out to him, but added that Fawad maintained regular contact.
