PAKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf has done well by distancing itself from the highly volatile statement of Shahbaz Gill, Chief of Staff of the party chairman, that landed him in serious trouble.
Recovering from the initial shock that the party received after the arrest of one of its senior leaders, the leadership of the party said on Thursday that Gill could have had a better choice of words.
Addressing a news conference, Vice President of PTI and former Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry stopped short of condemning his remarks but added Gill’s narrative was “not the party’s stance” and that “every person has its own opinion”.
Apart from the remarks made by Fawad, Gill seems to have been abandoned for all practical purposes as neither party leadership/workers nor the family members made any contact with him in the lock-up, which clearly showed that the party was alive to the sensitivity of his remarks and the possible fall out for the future of the party.
However, much depends on the on-going investigations into the incident as Gill is reported to have told the police that in his view, he did not make the statement contrary to the party policy and that he gave a well-thought-out statement.
Leaks also reveal that the investigation of the sedition case against Shahbaz Gill is taking a new turn as international companies and global personalities have been found involved in providing assistance to former Prime Minister Imran Khan in foreign funding and money laundering offences.
There are, of course, grave implications of both the verdict of the foreign funding case and uncalled-for live statement of Mr.
Gill but damage control is possible if the party reviews its existing policy of confrontation with institutions and use of abusive language against political opponents as such a posture is poisoning the overall atmosphere.
It is also to be seen what the party leader Imran Khan has in store for the August 13 public meeting in Lahore, where he plans to give an ultimatum to the Government for holding early elections and tell people ‘how to get real independence’. There appears to be no room to commit more mistakes and a course correction is needed.
