PTI leaders asked to silence colleagues ‘airing dirty laundry’

• Party’s KP chief directs committee members to avoid contact with leaders ‘violating party discipline’
• In purported ‘leaked clip’, Gandapur criticises directive as ‘dictatorial’
• ‘Dissident’ Ghani questions KP govt efforts for Imran’s release

PESHAWAR: The PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter seemed to be at loggerheads after the party’s provincial leadership barred the members of its political coordination committee from contacting the members who had discussed party affairs in the media.

The directive from provincial general secretary Ali Asghar Khan drew criticism from senior leaders, including former chief minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur and ex-speaker Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, who criticised the party directives in audio clips circulated on social media.

“In the light of directions from President PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all the members of parliamentary and political coordination committee are directed to avoid direct and indirect contact with any member who has taken party internal affairs on media, tried to pressurise the party and weakened its discipline,” the advisory issued by the MNA Ali Asghar Khan stated. It also stopped the committee members from meeting any delegation which might include members who publicly criticised the party.

“Those who are trying to pressurise the [party] by making media statements and bringing party internal affairs in public should neither be encouraged nor discussed at any level,” it said. It said that the members of the parliamentary and political coordination committee were directed to strictly implement the directive.

Last week, a group of PTI lawmakers, in a letter addressed to the PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, expressed concerns over “lack of efforts” by the leadership for the release of the party’s incarcerated founder, governance issues in the province and demanded a comprehensive action plan for the purpose.

In response to the directive, multiple audio clips made rounds on social media. In a leaked audio message purportedly featuring Mr Gandapur, the ex-CM said the political parties did not operate in such fashion. He quipped that the provincial president had made statements against the party government in the past.

He recalled that the incumbent provincial ministers had made allegations against his cabinet members on the floor of the house. “Acting like dictators would not do any good to the party; rather, it would further aggravate the situation,” the former CM added.

Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, former KP Assembly speaker, also criticised the party leadership’s directive in a leaked audio clip. Ghani, who is one of the senior leaders in the ranks of the ‘disgruntled group’, said that they neither violated the party discipline nor levelled allegations against anyone.

“Our only crime is to utter the name of Imran Khan, which the party leadership was not ready to take,” he claimed. He asked the party leadership if they had any workable plan to ensure the release of Imran Khan from prison or start a movement to press for his release.

He questioned whether appearances in front of the Adiala prison and before the high court could lead to Imran’s release, as he called them a waste of time. Ghani said that they had been advocating for medical facilities and visitation rights for Imran Khan and speedy trials in his cases. “If this is our crime, then we will continue to do the same,” Mr Ghani said.

Mr Ghani did not respond to texts and calls.

On the other hand, a party insider told Dawn that disgruntled members were unhappy for being left out of cabinet seats in the latest reshuffle and were now trying to link it with Imran Khan’s release.

Another reason, according to the insider, was the “envy” among the senior leaders over the elevation of Muhammad Sohail Afridi as chief minister. “Many were unhappy with the fact that Mr Afridi, who used to go about their offices some months ago, was now the chief minister; they were unable to digest it,” the insider said. PTI KP president MNA Junaid Akbar and general secretary Ali Asghar Khan were not available for comments, either.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2026