The Pakistan Insaf Party, led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, is facing a wave of resignations in the first leadership ranks, following the violence that followed Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9.
In the latest developments related to these resignations, the party’s First Vice President and former Information Minister Fouad Chaudhry announced – today, Wednesday – his resignation from the Insaf Party and his departure from political work.
“I am parting with Imran Khan and stepping down from my party position,” Chaudhry said in a tweet.
Shortly before that, the party’s leader and deputy speaker of parliament, Qasim Khan Suri, also announced his resignation from the party because of the events of May 9.
A Syrian was the deputy speaker of Parliament who stopped the vote of no confidence against Imran Khan in April last year, before the Supreme Court intervened and forced parliament to vote.
A day earlier, the party’s leader and former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Sherine Mazari, had announced her resignation from the party and away from political work, devoting herself to her family and social work. Her resignation came after she was arrested 4 consecutive times since the events of May 9.
The party also witnessed a number of other resignations among its leaders, most of whom held prestigious positions in the state during the period of Imran Khan’s government, such as the former Minister of Culture and Information in the Punjab province, Fayaz Al-Hassan Chauhan, the head of the Insaf Party in the city of Karachi, the former member of the Pakistani parliament, Aftab Siddiqui, and the member Former Member of Parliament Osman Khan Trakay.
These resignations coincide with the presence of a number of other leaders of the Insaf Party in detention under the “Law on Preserving Public Order”, and among the most prominent detainees so far is the former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was re-arrested in front of the prison yesterday evening, and he confirmed that he will remain In the party and will not resign.
On the other hand, the Pakistani government announced – through the words of Defense Minister Asif Khawaja – that the government is studying the possibility of banning the Insaf Party due to the violent events that took place in the country on the ninth of May.