Differences resolved: PTI’s Tehsil council members withdraw resignations

Disgruntled members also vow to back Tehsil nazim

ABBOTTABAD: A day after they had tendered their resignations en masse, 12 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the Abbottabad Tehsil Council said they had patched up their differences with the party’s local leadership.

They subsequently withdrew their resignations.

The fissures had erupted within the party ranks when a dozen members of PTI joined hands with rival members from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the council to back a vote of no confidence against the Tehsil Naib Nazim Sardar Shujah Ahmed.

According to one of the PTI  members who had tendered his  resignation, they had backed the motion to oust Ahmed following allegations of corruption. But when the PML-N leadership agreed to back off from the stance following secret negotiations with the PTI leadership, the disgruntled PTI members filed their resignations on Monday.

The annoyed PTI tehsil members accused their party’s local leadership of not giving them due respect or taking them on board about party matters.

However the local leadership, including Tehsil Nazim Ishaq Sulemani, PTI MPA Sardar Muhammad Idrees and provincial minister for Food Qalandar Lodhi approached the dissidents and persuaded them to withdraw their resignations.

Subsequently, in a meeting of local PTI members, the disgruntled members announced that they were withdrawing their resignations before pledging their support to the Tehsil Nazim.

When approached for comment, Sulemani and Ahmed confirmed that disputes within PTI had been resolved amicably.

On Tuesday, Sulemani had said they were not contemplating any disciplinary action against the dissident members.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2017.