Khushro Bakhtiar and Ali Zaidi join the list of PTI deserters following May 9 events

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and Ali Zaidi joined the list of PTI deserters on Friday, as per the Pakistan media reports. The decision to quit the party has come after the May 9 unrest in Pakistan. According to a local Pakistan newspaper, Khusro Bakhtiar shared the announcement through a video message. While announcing his decision, he said, "I can't go with the PTI's philosophy anymore. I had distanced myself from the PTI for the last year. I also remained inactive as a core committee member during that period."  

Further, he added that the events of May 9 have forced him to move away from the ideology of the PTI and that he has informed the party leadership that "confrontation with institutions would be harmful". Whereas, Zaidi said, "I'm quitting politics. I'm resigning from my positions of Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh president, core committee member and MNA," reported Geo News. 

Apart from him, former special assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan has also decided to leave the party due to the May 9 incident. While addressing the press briefing, Awan condemned the unrest that took place on May 9. She claimed that vandalism was planned at Zaman Park. Further, she asserted, "A conspiracy was hatched on a foreign agenda aimed at dishonouring country's institutions and pleasing foreign masters." 

Leaders who have quit PTI till now 

After the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case on May 9 and subsequent violent protests, a crackdown has been launched on the PTI where the leaders who have been allegedly involved are detained. The suspects include the country’s top civil-military leaders who would be going through trial under relevant laws of the country including the Army Act. Since then, several PTI leaders including close aides of Khan have announced their resignation from the party over May 9 vandalism with some blaming Khan’s policies for the attacks on the military installations, reported Geo News.

Here is the province-wise breakdown of PTI leaders who have parted ways with the deposed prime minister:

Punjab

• Senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry

• Senior vice president Shireen Mazari

• Secretary general Asad Umar

• Former provincial minister Fayazul Hassan Chohan

• Ex-MPA Abdul Razaq Khan Niazi

• Ex-MPA Makhdoom Iftikharul Hassan Gillani

• Ex-MPA Mian Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri

• Ex-MNA Khawaja Qutab Fareed Koreja

• Founding member Aamer Mahmood Kiani

• Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain

• Former federal minister Malik Amin Aslam

• PTI West Punjab President Faizullah Kamoka

• Former PTI central deputy secretary general for Islamabad Dr Muhammad Amjad

• Additional secretary general south Punjab Malik Asif Awan

• Ex-MPA Jalil Sharqpuri

• Ex-MPA Syed Saeedul Hassan

• Ex-MPA Saleem Akhtar Labar

• MNA Chaudhry Hussain Elahi

• Ticket holder (PP-247) Chaudhry Ehsanul Haq

• Ticket holder (PP-248) Dr Mohammad Afzal

• Ticket holder (PP-257) Chaudhary Jehanzeb Rasheed

• Ex-MPA Zaheeruddin Khan Alizai

• Ex-MPA Aun Dogar

• Ex-MPA Abdul Hai Dasti

• Ex-MPA Malik Mujtaba Niaz Gishkori

• Ex-MPA Alamdar Husain Qureshi

• Ex-MPA Sajjad Hussain Cheena

• Ex-MPA Sardar Qaisar Abbas Khan Magsi

• Ex-MPA Ashraf Rind 

• Ex-MPA Javed Ansari

• Ex-MNA Maleeka Ali Bokhari

• Ex-MPA Javed Akhtar Ansari

• Ex-MPA Ahsan Saleem Baryar

• Muhammad Saleem Baryar

• Ex-MPA Ansir Iqbal Baryar

• President PTI Gujranwala Khalid Aziz Lone

• Ex-MPA Mian Mumtaz Ahmad Maharwi

• Ex-MPA Asif Manzoor 

• Jamshed Iqbal Cheema 

• Ex-MPA Musarrat Jamshed Cheema

• Ex-MPA Ayaz Khan Niazi

• Ex-MPA Malik Akram Kanhon

• Ex-MPA Murad Raas

• Ex-MPA Pir Ahmad Khagga

• Ex-MPA Raja Yawar Kamal

• Ex-MPA Chaudhry Muhammad Adnan

• Abrar-ul-Haq

• Senator leader Saifullah Niazi

• Ex-MNA Khurram Shahzad

• Ex-MPA Mian Ahsan Ansar Bhatti

• Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan

• Ex-MPA Muhammad Waris Aziz

• Khusro Bakhtiar

• Ex-MPA Ahmad Shah Khagga

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

• Former provincial minister Dr Hisham Inamullah Malik

• Ex-KP government spokesperson Ajmal Wazir

• Former advisor to chief minister Malik Qasim Khan Khattak

• MNA Usman Tarakai

• MNA Malik Jawad Hussain

• Ex-KP minister Muhammad Iqbal Wazir

• Ex-MPA Nadia Sher

• District leader Malik Qayyum Hissam

• Ex-MPA Nadia Sher Ali 

• Ex-MPA Haider Ali Khan 

Sindh

• Sindh President Ali Zaidi

• MPA Bilal Ghaffar

• MNA Jay Prakash

• Sindh MPA Omar Omari

• PTI Sindh Vice President Mehmood Moulvi

• PTI Karachi President Aftab Siddiqui

• MPA Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah

• MPA Sanjay Gangwani

• MPA Dr Imran Shah

• District President Khairpur Syed Ghulam Shah

• Ex-MPA Karim Bakhsh Gabol

• MPA Imran Ali Shah

• Ex-MPA Omar Amari 

• Ex-MNA Syma Nadeem

• MPA Muhammad Abbas Jafri 

• Rabia Azfar Nizami

Balochistan

• Ex-provincial minister Mubeen Khilji

• Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir