Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Hammad Azhar on Thursday announced his resignation as the party’s Punjab president, maintaining he did not have access to Imran Khan and could not take responsibility for decisions that were reached without his input.
“Unfortunately, I do not have access to [PTI founder] Imran Khan,” he wrote in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, noting he had not held any press conference announcing an exit from the party and as a consequence his movement remained restricted. “I cannot go to Adiala [Jail],” he said, lamenting this had enabled others to take decisions on Punjab’s organizational matters without his input. “Most of these decisions were based on lobbying and limited access and one-sided information to Imran Khan instead of merit,” he alleged, citing the resignation of Lahore President Chaudhry Asghar, who he claimed was sidelined due because of “wrong” guidance to Khan.
Continuing his grievances, he claimed there were “many other cases” where those in contact with Khan had facilitated “wrong” decisions by not informing the founder of ground realities. In this situation, he claimed, he could not support the use of his pen to violate merit and sideline individuals who had sacrificed for the PTI. “I had previously resigned for the same reason that it is not possible for anyone to run the affairs without access to the party leaders,” he said, claiming “vested interested” had taken advantage of this dearth of communication.
“Major organizational responsibility should be vested only in those who have access to the party leader to convey the full message to the party chairman,” he said, adding that he would remain a PTI worker but could not continue in a leadership role any longer.
In a subsequent posting on X, Azhar issued an “open letter” to Khan so his message could not be altered by “messengers.” Reiterating his unwavering loyalty to Khan, he recalled that he had been an absconder for over a year, leading to his business suffering. Claiming the party had remained united until the Feb. 8 general elections, he alleged the aftermath of the polls had seen three groups emerge—parliamentarians, “controlled” figures, and members of the KP government. All three of these groups have different interests and thinking, he claimed, urging Khan to unite them under a single platform that permitted no deviation.
Additionally, he alleged, two other groups had emerged who met with Khan and conveyed information to him intended to support their “favorites” while dismissing the efforts of other party workers. He advised Khan to resolve this by rotating the list of people who met him at Adiala Jail every week. Maintaining these problems weren’t difficult to fix, he claimed sustaining the present restricted access could prove very harmful to the party.
Resignation rejected
Responding to Azhar’s resignation, PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub rejected it—though was unable to sway the former leader’s opinion. “Hammad Azhar you have worked tirelessly for the party and PM (sic) Imran Khan sahib. Resignation not accepted,” he wrote.
In response, Azhar reiterated he could not work under such circumstances where he had all the responsibility but no authority. “I am humbled by your confidence in me. But it is my firm decision to not continue under the circumstances where I have zero authority but complete responsibility,” he said, adding restrictions on his movements also played a role in his decision.