PTI K-P chapter's rift widens

The power struggle between the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chapter is showing no signs of abating as evident from Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's removal of the party's Peshawar regional and district presidents.

Gandapur, in his capacity as the K-P PTI President, delisted Peshawar Region President Atif Khan and Peshawar District President Sher Ali Arbab. In their place, Mohammad Asim Khan has been appointed as the president of the Peshawar region, while Irfan Saleem will take over as the Peshawar district chief.

Meanwhile, Advocate Shahab Ali Chamkani will be the next Peshawar district general secretary. However, in a move that has surprised observers, Peshawar Region General Secretary Kamran Bangash will retain his position.

With the party seemingly embroiled in internal conflicts and power struggles, the government's developmental work is nowhere to be seen. PTI is clearly divided into two factions. The differences in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa began with the removal of Shakeel Khan as the minister for communication and works.

In a meeting held last week at the CM House, Sher Ali Arbab, Shandana Gulzar, Shehryar Afridi, and Junaid Akbar openly disagreed with Gandapur over the removal of Shakeel Khan from his ministry, rejecting the corruption allegations against him.

As a result, the chief minister removed Sher Ali Arbab and Atif Khan from their positions in PTI's Peshawar hierarchy before issuing a notification to this effect. Atif Khan had given a statement in support of the dismissed minister Shakeel Khan, while Sher Ali Arbab refused to sign a declaration of confidence in the chief minister.

This had led to speculations that the party office bearers were removed as a consequence of these actions. It was reported that after the meeting at the CM House that Sher Ali Arbab would certainly be removed from his district presidency. Close associates advised him to resign, but he refused as Arbab believed it would be better if he were removed.