ISLAMABAD (National Times) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Raoof Hasan believes his party would not accept Fawad Chaudhry back its fold again.
Replying to a query while talking to a private TV channel, Hasan said, “I did not receive any green light from PTI founder Imran Khan about taking Fawad back in the party’s camp.”
He said he did not foresee the return of any former party leader, who jumped ship in difficult times, back into the party fold. He said there were many of them trying to rejoin the party after facing political demise, but the PTI founder did not approve it.
Hasan said a younger and ideological lot had emerged in the party after the May 9 incidents.
He expressed suspicion about media hype regarding those people who earlier dissociated with the party when they were needed the most.
“I call them rats,” he said adding that he believed that certain powers wanted to create disloyalty through them in the party ranks after they failed in their attempts against the PTI, while the party was getting stronger every day.
Separately, in a statement while talking to a TV news channel, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat admitted that “some friends” were trying to re-induct Fawad in the party, however, the party leadership and workers had reservations over his return.
“Those who levelled allegations on the party founder and the party itself, there is no chance of their return to the fold,” he said.
On May 10, 2023, after the arrest of Imran from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the reaction of the then PTI senior vice-president, Fawad, caused quite a stir.
According to a BBC report, Fawad had grabbed his brother by the hand and was heard saying: “Imran phharya gaya ay, chal aaja [Imran Khan has been arrested. Let’s go.]”
Fawad had on May 24, 2023, announced “taking a break from politics” and parting ways with Imran over May 9 mayhem when party workers and supporters attacked public and military installations almost across the country immediately after the arrest of the PTI founder.
“I am parting ways with (sic) Imran Khan and stepping down from party position,” Fawad had stated in a tweet following the mass exit of leaders from the party over the May 9 vandalism.
Fawad was on April 6 released from Adiala jail, two days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had approved his bail. He had approached the high court seeking post-arrest bail in all the cases against him.
Hiba Chaudhry, Fawad’s wife, had posted a video of his return, wherein the ex-minister could be seen embracing his daughters who were excited to see their father after a long time.
The former minister had been behind bars since November 4 of last year in multiple cases. He was arrested from his Islamabad residence in connection with a complaint filed against him at Aabpara Police Station for allegedly taking a Rs5 million bribe in exchange for a job.
On April 1, the high court granted him bail in a case related to misappropriation in construction projects in Jhelum, after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested him in December 2023.
