PTI rift puts TTAP organisation plan on hold

The move was intended to address the organisational challenges facing PTI and strengthen TTAP's political role. Provincial chapters had reportedly been asked to develop organisational structures and establish working and research groups., the publication of The Express Tribune mid-October report triggered friction between the two sides, with PTI leaders expressing strong reservations about the proposed arrangement.

The sources said TTAP leaders Asad Qaiser and Akhunzada Hussain had faced criticism from within PTI, with party leaders reminding them of their political standing and warning that they could be called back from TTAP if required.

The sources questioned why PTI would support the creation of a parallel political structure, arguing that it would allow individuals with little independent political standing to pursue a long-standing ambition. They also pointed out that several TTAP leaders, including Allama Nasir and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, had failed to mobilise support beyond their respective constituencies.

The sources added that when the matter was subsequently discussed internally, PTI leaders distanced themselves from any such commitment.

TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain, however, disputed this account, saying the proposal had been discussed at a meeting attended by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, both of whom had endorsed the suggestion to allow TTAP to establish its own political arm.

He said TTAP later learnt through intermediaries that there was resistance within PTI to the understanding reached at the meeting.

However, he maintained that PTI had never formally communicated any reservations to TTAP."Whenever the next meeting takes place, we will put this issue on the agenda and ask PTI's leadership that if it cannot get its own party to agree to decisions endorsed by its representatives at TTAP, then it should refrain from taking decisions on the party's behalf," he said.

Hussain confirmed that the plan to establish a formal organisational structure had been put on hold because of the differences within PTI.PTI central information secretary disputed the spokesperson's account, saying Barrister Gohar had categorically had not been approved as a formal agenda item during the meeting.

He added that Gohar had also made it clear that PTI would not allow the formation of such a structure under any circumstances. Asked whether the creation of a separate political arm by TTAP could benefit PTI, the information secretary rejected the idea, saying there was no logic in establishing a parallel organisational structure.