Junaid Akbar announces plan to quit NA seat amid PTI rift

• “My patience has run out,” says Junaid Akbar.
• PTI leader vows to seek independent seat in NA.
• “I don’t recognise parliamentary leader’s authority.”

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Junaid Akbar has announced his decision to relinquish the National Assembly seat and part ways with the party’s parliamentary setup, citing persistent frustration over being denied the right to speak in the National Assembly.

In a message shared in the PTI parliamentary party’s WhatsApp group, Akbar said he would speak to the National Assembly speaker on Saturday and formally write a letter seeking a separate seat, declaring that he would now move forward as an independent.

The politician also confirmed the authenticity of an audio recording attributed to him.

“My patience has run out,” he said, adding that he would no longer be part of the party’s parliamentary committee or sit with its members.

Akbar said he did not recognise the authority of the parliamentary leader or the chief whip, questioning what he described as an unfair system in which the same individuals were allowed to speak daily while others were reduced to desk-thumping. “Is there no method, no humanity left?” he asked, lamenting that the party’s decency was being misconstrued as weakness.

He alleged that voices raising serious issues, including questions on terrorism and the absence of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi from the House, were deliberately sidelined. “There isn’t enough courage to speak the truth, yet the same faces appear every day,” he said, accusing his colleagues of behaving like courtiers and silencing dissent within the party.

Akbar said he had been given the floor only once since last Ramadan, including during the budget session, and believed that even his own people were preventing him from speaking because of his blunt stance.

“I am no longer part of this parliamentary party or of you people,” Akbar said, reiterating that he would engage the speaker directly and continue his political role independently.

It may be noted that the former ruling party has been witnessing rifts and divisions for a while, with the most recent one reportedly over the party’s February 8 protest plan.

The Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-Pakistan (TTAP) had announced a countrywide shutdown strike on February 8, marking the second anniversary of the 2024 general elections, which PTI has described as “rigged”.

Sharp differences reportedly emerged during the party’s KP parliamentary committee meeting for finalisation of the strategy.

One of those who expressed disagreements was Akbar, who expressed frustration, claiming the PTI leadership was under pressure from “appeasing” everyone, including Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan.