Tehreek Express: PTI will head to Sindh to develop ‘sense of ownership’

Sindh president brushes off reports of discord within the provincial membership.

KARACHI:

“The country is heading towards civil war,” declared the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh president, Nadir Akmal Khan Leghari, on Friday.

He was joined by the party’s central women’s wing president, Fauzia Kasuri, at a press conference held at businessman Faisal Vawda’s residence.

Leghari, who was recently appointed president of the party in Sindh, said that the “disconnect” between the elite and the lower cadre of the party exists in all political parties, but PTI aims to remove it.

“Our Tehreek Express will head to Sindh,” said Leghari while sharing the party’s agenda to develop a “sense of ownership” with the people of Sindh. “We will sign a social contract with the people and identify their problems.”

According to Leghari, every party prepares a manifesto but it is usually forgotten. “We will sign this contract so whether we are in the government or in the opposition, we do not deviate from our stated objectives.”

He said that people were looking at the PTI as a “third option”. “Look at what is happening in Malir, Lyari, and Balochistan. There are even riots in Punjab.”

As for the reports circulating that there was discord within the provincial membership over his appointment as president, Leghari brushed them off.

Kasuri said that the party was “being reorganised anew in Sindh” and would have the support of its provincial women’s wing. “The PTI is the only party where the women’s wing is an autonomous body, according to its constitution and practically.” She said that the party would introduce people-friendly policies for women’s development and the youth that would favour everyone, not just a few.

Leghari and Kasuri reiterated that the upcoming party elections would give everyone a chance to participate in electing the leadership.

The event was attended by the media adviser to party chief Imran Khan, Imran Ismail, and Vawda, who has supported PTI in the past and organised a fundraiser for Khan prior to his December 25 rally in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2012.