‘Fighting corruption’: Senior PPP-S leader quits party, joins PTI

Peshawar district organiser of PPP-S Mullazai is a close relative of Sherpao.

PESHAWAR: Yet another political party waved farewell to a member when Mohammad Amir Khan Khalil Mullazai of Pakistan Peoples Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) announced that he was joining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday. Amir was the Peshawar district organiser of the PPP-S, and is a close relative of party chairman Aftab Ahmed Sherpao.

Flanked by his father Muhammad Ayaz Khan Mullazai and Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti, who recently joined PTI after resigning from the Awami National Party (ANP), Amir said that certain ‘self-interested people’ have grouped within PPP-S and were damaging the party.

Amir, who contested elections on the PF-7 seat of the provincial assembly, said that committed PPP-S workers were forced to work under opportunists and in such a situation, PTI chief Imran Khan offered the only ray of hope.

Hoti also spoke at the press conference, saying: “I raised my voice against corruption inside the assembly and Imran is now raising his voice and we have joined forces”. He declared that it was Transparency International, and not himself, who had proclaimed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to be the most corrupt province.

Hoti added that it was the coalition government’s performance which was forcing people to join PTI ‘in droves’.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2012.