Former MPA quits PTI, politics after bail
Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan hold a giant cricket bat with the colours and initials of the party in Multan on July 20, 2018. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Umer Tanveer Butt, a former MPA and PTI leader, on Saturday bid farewell to politics and the former ruling party following his release on bail.
Butt conveyed his decision through a video message, labelling the May 9 incident as “a dark day” and an attempt “to sow discord between the people and state institutions”.
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Butt, who had been under detention since Dec 14, 2023, received bail from an anti-terrorism court. In his video statement, he mentioned his entry into the PTI in 2017 and the establishment of Insaf Lawyers Forum in Rawalpindi.
“My aim in joining PTI was to bring systemic change.” However, Butt alleged a shift in Imran Khan's stance, accusing the former premier of “fostering an anti-army narrative that created a division between the military and the public”.
"I can no longer bear the weight of an anti-state narrative," he added.