LAHORE: Hours after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar criticised his leader Imran Khan for refusing to negotiate with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the party has hit back at the senior leader, accusing him of being “confused” and “self-serving”.
A scathing two-page-long statement was issued by the party’s media department on Twitter late last night following the former secretary general’s interview in which he criticised the policies adopted by the PTI chief.
“Ambiguity and confusion are evident in Asad Umar’s thoughts; Asad Umar’s claims that he stepped down from the duties of secretary general due to disagreements over the chairman’s strategy appear to contradict reality,” the statement read.
“If Asad Umar disagreed with the decisions of the chairman or the party and did not think it appropri-ate to go through with them, he should have parted ways [from PTI],” it stated, adding that he “re-membered to resign” only now that the party is being targeted under a plan.
“His personal interest may be hidden in it, but not the party’s,” the statement alleged. Furthermore, the statement took issue with Umar’s claims that the party had refused to negotiate: “Umar, as Secre-tary General, is well aware of the numerous efforts made to discuss national issues with these political parties. “Asad Umar himself used to take this position that whenever he tried to talk to these parties, they did not discuss any agenda other than the acquisition of NRO.” Attacking the leaders of other political parties, the statement contended that the reason for the fruit-less termination of the talks was not PTI but the other side’s reluctance to contest elections for fear of defeat.
The statement maintained that PTI had shown great flexibility within the ambit of the Constitution. “So Asad Umar can justify his indefensible decision but should avoid ignoring the facts. If Asad Umar had taken a principled stand and decided to secede before the hard times fell on the par-ty, perhaps there would have been more weight in his words,” the statement concluded.
While talking to a private TV channel on Monday, Umar said his party’s refusal to negotiate with the PDM was a “big mistake”. “While PTI is a political reality that polled 16.8 million votes, the PDM made it to parliament with 22.5 million votes,” he said. –Agencies
