Shah Mahmood Qureshi to Lead PTI If Imran Khan is Disqualified: Report

Pakistan Former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi would lead the party in case he is disqualified by the court.

“If I am disqualified, Shah Mehmood Qureshi will run the party,” Khan told reporters at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on Saturday, according to Geo TV.

The statement comes as the PTI chief faces over 100 cases on several charges including corruption and terrorism since being ousted from power in April last year.

Imran was arrested earlier this month in Al-Qadir Trust case by Pakistani Rangers personnel in compliance with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrest warrants.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi was arrested earlier on Tuesday along with several PTI leaders in a crackdown against Imran Khan’s party.

Over 70 lawyers and leaders from the party have parted ways with the PTI so for following the May 9 mayhem. Top PTI leaders – including the party’s Secretary General Asad Umar, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry and former minister for human rights Shireen Mazari – have resigned.

Reacting to the mass departure of party leaders, the PTI chief said, “I will give a big surprise in the coming days.”

The PTI leaders’ exodus started when the security forces launched a crackdown against the party following the attacks on the civil and military institutions.

However, Khan said some PTI leaders were leaving the party under compulsion while others had been exposed.

Amid rumours about the PTI-backed President Arif Alvi’s resignation, Khan said that the President would continue working according to the Constitution.

Pakistan is seeing a political crisis after Imran Khan was jailed on May 9 in Al-Qadir Trust case following which violent protests erupted after paramilitary Rangers arrested Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises.

His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Lahore Corps Commander’s House, the Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad in response to Khan’s arrest.

The mob also stormed the Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi for the first time.