PTI expels Usman Buzdar, 21 others from party

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday expelled former Punjab Chief Sardar Usman Buzdar and 21 other political leaders from the party.

The notification was signed by PTI's Secretary General, Umar Ayub, who cited their breaches against the party's regulations as the reason for the termination.

The list of individuals whose memberships were revoked includes Sardar Muhammad Khan Laghari, Khusro Bakhtiar, Javed Akhtar Ansari, Farooq Azam Malik, Muhammad Akhtar Malik, Nadeem Shah, Ahtsham ul Haq, Bahawal Khan Abbasi, Sabeen Gul, Mian Shafi Muhammad, Muhammad Asghar Shah, and Tariq Abdullah. PTI also suspended the memberships of Muhammad Afzal, Ahsan-ul-Haq, Saleem Akhtar, Muhammad Zaheeruddin Khan, Salman Khan Gadoka, Akram Khanu, Muhyiddin Solangi, Makhdoom Afkhar ul Hasan, and Raja Muhammad Saleem.

Earlier, Usman Buzdar, a former Punjab chief minister and PTI leader, declared his decision to step down from politics following the events on May 9. In his statement, he urged all stakeholders to put aside their egos, leave their parties, and come to a consensus. Furthermore, he appealed to the authorities to release all innocent individuals from jail.

In the wake of the May 9 vandalism, several PTI leaders and lawmakers, including Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, and others, have parted ways with the former ruling party.