PTI Had No Plan B or C After Sohail Afridi’s Disqualification, Says Senior Journalist
ISLAMABAD:Senior journalist Mushtaq Yousafzai has claimed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had promised to implement Plan B and Plan C if he was disqualified, but no alternative strategy emerged when the situation unfolded.
Speaking on HUM News, Yousafzai said divisions between PTI’s senior leadership and newer party members had contributed to the current political crisis, adding that several experienced leaders had stayed away from the protest because of concerns about possible violence and subsequent legal cases.
According to Yousafzai, Afridi had told him that the party had alternative plans in the event of his disqualification. However, the journalist said no such plans became apparent.
He added that senior PTI figures who advocated dialogue and negotiations were labelled as fearful or accused of being informants by some newer party members. As a result, several experienced leaders reportedly chose not to participate in the protest.
Yousafzai said veteran leaders were concerned that emotionally charged supporters could become violent, potentially leading to incidents similar to those of May 9 and exposing party leaders to further legal proceedings.
He further stated that senior figures, including Asad Qaiser, Shahram Tarakai and Shaukat Yousafzai, had begun consultations on how to steer the party out of its current difficulties. He also referred to discussions about issuing a show-cause notice to Shaukat Yousafzai.
Meanwhile, V News website bureau chief Lihaz Ali offered a separate account of the events leading up to the proposed long march towards Islamabad.
Ali said that during a meeting, Afridi had raised concerns about mounting social media pressure over his failure to march towards the federal capital. According to Ali, Asad Qaiser and Taimur Jhagra strongly opposed the proposal, but Afridi announced the march under pressure.
Ali further claimed that an attempt was subsequently made through Barrister Gohar to persuade Mahmood Khan Achakzai to announce the cancellation of the long march. However, Achakzai reportedly refused, saying that those who had announced the march should take responsibility for it.
The bureau chief also questioned the absence of most senior PTI leaders from the container during the protest, noting that Shahid Khattak was among the few party figures present, while Barrister Gohar, Salman Akram Raja, Asad Qaiser and other prominent leaders were absent.
According to Ali, the party’s senior leadership did not collectively assume responsibility for the long march, leaving Afridi politically isolated. He also claimed that Afridi subsequently sought access to meetings, which were facilitated by the federal government.
The two journalists’ accounts point to alleged internal divisions, disagreements over negotiations and a lack of coordinated leadership as factors behind PTI’s difficulties surrounding the protest. The claims were presented as the journalists’ assessments and have not been independently verified.
