Imran terminates Vawda's PTI membership

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday terminated the 'basic membership' of Faisal Vawda, according to a notification posted on the party's official Twitter account.

The notification, signed by Imran Khan, stated that Vawda did not respond to the party's show cause notice issued on October 26 "for defying party policy" and thus, his membership has been terminated.

Earlier, Vawda appeared on state-owned broadcaster PTV and “tried to damage” the PTI long march to Islamabad by claiming that the march would be “bloody".

“Imran Khan’s peaceful long march is our right but I am clearly telling you I am seeing blood, deaths and coffins in this march," he said.

Shortly after the presser, in the show-cause notice issued to Vawda, PTI Sindh President Ali Zaidi told the former minister that he had "grossly violated discipline by giving statements against party policies and guidelines".

"This is in serious violation of party rules as per the constitution, therefore, you are required to submit a reply within two days of this notice stating why your party membership should not be cancelled.”

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Zaidi said that until his response, Vawda's party membership would remain suspended and he would not be allowed to hold any party office or represent the party in the media.

The PTI leaders as well as political observers, who saw the sudden twist as orchestrated from ‘certain quarters’ only against the party, smelled a rat in what they believed was a “strategically timed dog whistle” to put a dent in the party’s narrative ahead of the long march.

They said that the shocking ‘red-meat’ remarks delivered right from the government’s forum were “scripted” to provide the PML-N-led coalition with fresh fodder to attack PTI.

Interestingly, they noted, the conference was organised by the Press Information Department (PID), which is the principal department of the information ministry and responsible for disseminating government information to the media.

Soon after the presser created ripples, Senator Ejaz Chaudhry took to Twitter and reiterated that PTI rejected Vawda's press conference. “Everyone knows whose game Faisal Vawda is playing – the nation is fortunately very informed thanks to Imran Khan.”

Former Sindh governor Imran Ismail said that he failed to understand on whose instruction was Faisal saying all this. "I am unable to understand what was the real purpose of today's press conference? Our long march is peaceful," he added.