Resignation rumours rife as PTI in disarray

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur offered on Thursday to resign from the post of provincial president of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), amid severe criticism of the senior party leadership over a botched march on Islamabad's D-Chowk earlier this week.

The Political Committee of the PTI met at the Chief Minister House in Peshawar for a post-protest assessment meeting, attended by senior party leaders, including Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Information Secretary Waqas Akram, National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, and others.

Reportedly, PTI founder Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, who was at the forefront of the November 24-26 protest march from K-P to D-Chowk, was also invited to the meeting, but she did not participate in the party's deliberations.

On November 13, incarcerated PTI founder gave the "final call" for the protest march for his release. There were high expectations that the PTI leadership would emerge, descend upon the federal capital and stay put until their demand was met.

The workers had hoped that the leadership would come up with a different plan this time to achieve the objectives, but it all ended in a nightmarish scenario, when many leaders were a no-show, while those present in the march fled the scene as soon as the authorities launched a crackdown.

In the wake of severe criticism of the senior leadership from within the party, the meeting in Peshawar discussed the situation after the Islamabad protest, the possibility of Governor's rule in K-P, where the PTI was in government, and the future course of action, according to sources.

During the discussion, Chief Minister Gandapur offered to resign as the K-P president of the PTI. However, the committee agreed that he would continue in his post and carry out his the responsibilities entrusted in him by the party.

The PTI workers and supporters had begun the protest march on Sunday led by Chief Minister Gandapur and Bibi. They took almost three days to reach Islamabad, as they overcame road blocks, teargas shelling and clashes with law-enforcement agency (LEA) personnel on their way.

In Tuesday afternoon, the first batch of the protestors managed to reach the periphery of the D-Chowk – their final destination – with some even entering the Red Zone. The surge of the protesters forced the LEA personnel to briefly retreat.

For a brief period, they captured the high-security zone, roamed freely and even sat on the containers placed there to stop them. But soon it dawned upon them that they were the only ones standing face-to-face with the LEAs and the senior leadership had stayed behind at a distance.

A lack of coordination between the workers and the leadership allowed the government to regroup and the scene quickly changed when the authorities wrest back the control of the situation. Finally, the much-touted "final call" fizzled out, when the LEAs cracked down against them in the night.