Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday blasted the PTI leadership, blaming it for the party's failure to form a grand alliance and secure party supremo Imran Khan's release.
Announcing the formation of a "release committee", he vowed to take matters into his own hands to ensure Imran's freedom.
Speaking to reporters, Fawad accused key PTI leaders, including Salman Akram Raja, Waqas Akram and Raoof Hassan, of lacking genuine loyalty towards Imran Khan.
He asserted that the current leadership had completely failed in their efforts to secure the former prime minister's release. He further revealed that he had begun reaching out to PTI's former leadership to reunite them under one platform, initiating both legal and political efforts for Imran's freedom.
He criticised PTI's current leadership, saying that despite Imran Khan's 600-day imprisonment, they have made no serious efforts for his release. "If a political solution for Imran Khan had been devised within the past three years, the country's situation would have improved."
Fawad painted a grim picture of the country's economy, claiming that 33% of textile mills have shut down and a "fake economy" is being run under the guise of a stable dollar maintained through import restrictions. He insisted that the only way to achieve political stability was through Imran Khan's release.
The former minister also alleged that Imran's legal cases were deliberately being delayed, recalling how previous postponements led to Imran's confinement in a "death cell" for 20 days.
He warned that recent delays had once again cut Imran off from his legal team and family, fuelling concerns of intensified political vendetta.
Fawad Chaudhry did not hold back in his criticism of PTI's top lawyers, claiming that Salman Akram Raja – once an aide to Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case – was more interested in financial gains than Imran's release.
He also questioned the transparency of PTI's legal and media teams, pointing out that their funding had never been audited.
The former minister alleged that Waqas Akram and his family had been residing in K-P House for months to evade legal troubles, and accused PTI's legal team members, including Hamid Khan, Shoaib Shaheen and Salman Akram Raja, of financial misconduct.
Furthermore, Fawad claimed that the current PTI leadership had been "installed" by the establishment and was actively coordinating with the government, making Imran Khan's release impossible under their watch.
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