Former Punjab education minister Murad Raas has become the latest leader to quit PTI. His announcement comes as PTI leaders jump ship at an alarming rate in protest against the May 9th violence.
Addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday, Murad Raas said no amount of condemnation was enough for what happened on May 9. He also overcame with emotion while announcing his exit from PTI.
“We never thought we would part ways with the party,” he said alongside other leaders, including Pir Ahmad Khagga, Raja Yawar Kamal and Chaudhry Adnan.
Read more: Firdous Ashiq Awan quits PTI
He laid the blame for the party’s current predicament — facing intense criticism with scores of leaders and thousands of workers arrested across the country following the riots — on Khan’s advisers in Lahore.
“We do not believe in the PTI’s politics of violence,” the former provincial minister said.
ہم عمران خان اور PTI سے اپنے راستے جدا کر رہے ہیں مراد راس۔۔
آنکھوں میں انسو، زبان ساتھ دینا چھوڑ گئی۔۔
اس کے بعد 20 سکینڈ وہ کچھ نہ بولے pic.twitter.com/CVZD1qG07T— Waqas Amjad ( محترم ) (@waqas_amjaad) May 26, 2023
Former Punjab education minister Murad Raas has said that no one wanted to fight with the institutions and termed the May 9 protests “over agitation”.
“There are differences of opinion, but they can be solved by sitting down,” he said during a press conference in Lahore. “This country belongs to everyone, we have to stay here and we can’t bring people from elsewhere to negotiate.
“We have to negotiate with people in the country and take it forward,” he said. He also said that they have decided to sit together and make a group of like-minded people who can take forward the cause of making Pakistan a better place
PTI becomes a sinking ship
The May 9th protests against Imran Khan’s arrest had resulted in attacks on military installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. The vandalism and arson had been strongly condemned and both the government and the army vowed strict action against the miscreants.
Since then, several PTI leaders and lawmakers have quit the party while condemning the May 9th violence. The long list of several party leaders and lawmakers — including Fawad Chaudhary, Shireen Mazari, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, Maleeka Bokhari, Firdous Ashiq Awan among others — have publicly denounced the attacks on the state installations and announced leaving the former ruling party since the May 9 vandalism.
Read more: Lahore Police identifies over 300 women linked to arson at Jinnah House