Former PTI leader and former federal minister Ali Haider Zaidi on Saturday refuted reports that he was “planning a political relaunch”, saying he had no plans to do so anytime soon.
Zaidi was among senior PTI leaders who left the party or politics altogether amid a state crackdown on the party following the May 9, 2023 riots, in which military installations were vandalized in protest of Imran’s arrest earlier that day.
“Some [are] suggesting that I am planning a political relaunch. Let me be clear: I do not plan to enter politics anytime soon,” Zaidi said on X.
The first reason Zaidi stated for not rejoining politics was that his “economic circumstances and my personal family obligations” did not allow it.
“Secondly, there is no politics in a country where the corrupt, the land grabbers, the extortionists, even those with blood on their hands, receive power through rigged elections, protected by a compromised judiciary, which even today fails to deliver justice,” he said.
“When justice dies, politics loses its purpose,” said the former PTI Sindh president.
“Imran Khan was, and remains, the only leader who really tried to change this system. Unfortunately, he is rotting in jail. And we all know why,” he added.
“I wish all my former colleagues the best,” Zaidi added.
The clarification comes later. Daily Ausaf and The express tribune reported, citing sources, that senior politicians who were part of the PTI’s “former leadership” were planning to relaunch a political movement calling for Imran’s release.
Media reports had claimed that former ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, former MNA Mahmood Moulvi and former Punjab Assembly speaker Sibtain Khan were expected to lead the initiative once released. All of them, except Sibtain, broke away from the PTI after the May 9 riots.
According to the Grandstand According to the report, sources said that the veteran leaders intended to rope in other experienced political figures from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. “The movement will gather real pace after the release of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, when the old guard will be seen again in active political action,” the publication reported quoting a source.
The reports come after Chaudhry and Ismail published almost identical statements in
“If PTI leaders cannot even go and ask about him (Qureshi), then saying we should not even visit him is strange logic,” they said.
They claimed that the entire PTI wanted Imran released from prison and alleged that some elements within the party wanted the opposite so that “his leadership can continue to shine.”
