ISLAMABAD: Frontline leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were conspicuously absent from activities undertaken by the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aiyeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) during its visit to Lahore.
On the eve of three-day opposition alliance tour, TTAP spokesman Akhunzada Hussain had announced that PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser would join the activities in the provincial capital. However, none were seen during the street mobilisation marking the second anniversary of the February 8 general elections.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, when contacted, cited specific reasons for their absence. He stated that Salman Akram Raja was in Karachi for a major party public meeting, which also included Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, and could not miss the event.
Barrister Gohar was unavailable due to a bereavement in the family and before that he, along with Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser, was in Islamabad on Thursday for a press conference responding to the ISPR DG’s briefing.
Regarding Asad Qaiser, Akram explained that he was asked to stay in Islamabad for the joint press conference, while the TTAP caravan had departed earlier in the morning.
Nevertheless, Akram emphasized that the PTI’s opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, along with 70-80 MPAs, traveled from Islamabad to Lahore with the TTAP leadership, asserting that the party remained actively engaged in the alliance’s activities.
