Islamabad: Internal rifts have appeared in Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) after 40 dissident lawmakers led by an estranged party leader, Jahangir Khan Tareen, formed a forward bloc to confront the ruling party over mismanagement in government.
The matter appears to be so grave that the PM and his aides are avoiding public comment because they fear causing further damage to the party. Ever since Imran became PM he has dealt with political opponents with an iron fist to deny them space to challenge his authority.
Sources familiar with the matter believe that the latest move by Tareen would not be possible without the support the country’s most powerful quarters. By creating a faction within PTI, Tareen has pulled the rug from under Imran, who has a thin majority in the National and Punjab Assemblies and that too with the backing of military-sponsored coalition partners. In the 342-member National Assembly, PTI has 156 seats (including 10 members of the Tareen group). Pakistan’s PM can be elected with a simple majority of 172 votes in the lower House. In 2018, Imran had secured 176 votes, four more than the required number, to become PM for the first time, with the support of allied parties allegedly backed by the military. The opposition enjoys the support of 161 legislators, with major opposition party PML-N having 84 members and PPP has 56.
