ISLAMABAD: The widely-experienced political couple – Jamshed Cheema and his wife Musarrat Cheema – who were thought to be close to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman ex-prime minister Imran Khan, on Thursday, parted ways with the party.
Speaking at a presser shortly after their two-week incarceration in Adiala Jail, the couple announced to quit the Imran Khan-led PTI, joining a long list of leaders to desert the party following the May 9 riots.
He said that he and his wife cannot continue politics anymore, as there is a need for responsible politics, democracy and leadership in the country.
“The failure of a system or a party can’t be allowed. In this entire situation, I and my wife are idealists. We are people who talk about democracy, freedom of speech and writing and the element of violence which has emerged here is the reason we cannot continue anymore with PTI,” he added.
“It is clear that we can’t continue politics or our affiliation with the party,” he added.
He expressed regret over the riots on May 9, saying that the “protest moving inside from outside, the attacks at some spots and riots were totally unfortunate”.
“I believe it has been a big failure [of the PTI],” he added.
He stressed the need for “rectification”.
He said that mob mentality was not accounted for during the May 9 protest.
“We should accept our responsibility that mob mentality and the calculation of a peaceful protest…maybe that was not possible and mob mentality was not accounted for,” he added.
“I am reiterating that the training of a political worker should be such that they play the role of a responsible citizen. If the worker of a political party is not peaceful then I feel there is a problem in the narrative and this is a problem here,” he added.
He continued that “we accept this failure and own it and another failure is that we couldn’t stop or manage it.”
He said that the events “caused embarrassment for Pakistan and damaged democracy and the party’s democratic credentials, as well as the name of protest”.
Given the situation, he made it clear that he and his wife cannot continue politics and the affiliation with former prime minister Imran Khan’s party.
“This career which is in our blood…it was not an easy decision to leave politics. You serve the nation in politics, but not at the cost of armed forces … not at the cost of people who protect the country,” he said.
“May 9 was the peak of the situation created due to a narrative spun by Imran Khan, which the [PTI’s] senior leadership failed to put a bar on,” said the former Khan loyalist.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023