Cracks emerging in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf after Imran Khan’s arrest: Report

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 20 : Cracks have emerged within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) shortly after the arrest of party leader and former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan but senior party leaders Omer Ayub Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi outrightly rejected rumours of division and replacement, Geo News reported on Saturday.
Ayub Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi said “no one can replace Imran Khan”.
The reasons behind reports of division and replacement emerged after a recent meeting when PTI members referred to each other as "traitors."
As per Geo News, during a recent meeting, PTI leaders went on to call each other “traitors”.
The core committee PTI's apex body is being headed by Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi,  who is currently running the affairs of the party after Khan's arrest but there appears to a division within the party, Geo News reported citing sources.
Allegations have been made that some committee members were responsible for leaking sensitive information and recordings of core committee discussions. These reports suggest that some within the party now believe that important matters should not be discussed within the core committee anymore.
“The rival groups exchanged harsh words during a meeting and declared each other traitors,” the sources within PTI told Geo News.
The PTI leaders blamed each other for leaking details and recordings of core committee meetings. Some members of the body are of the opinion that serious matters cannot be discussed in the core committee meeting anymore
A PTI leader confided to Geo News that he would reveal the name of the traitor if PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub and Senator Shibli Faraz allow him to identify the person.
“A traitor is sitting right here,” one of the leaders claimed during a meeting.
Geo News reported citing party sources that the secretary-general was in constant contact with the member who declared him a traitor in the core committee.
It has also been claimed that Omar Ayub and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are also vying to succeed the PTI chairman as the party chief, as per Geo News.
Earlier, PTI leader Sher Afzal Khan Marwat claimed that there are traitors in the core committee and Imran Khan`s legal team and they have put his life in danger.
“The presence of the traitors in the PTI core committee is beyond any doubt. They have passed on recordings of the core committee meetings to the opponents and even to media persons,” Geo News quoted Marwat as saying.
However, PTI Vice Chairman Qureshi termed the reports false saying they are aimed at spreading confusion among the party’s ranks and files
“There is no truth to such reports…no one is replacing Imran Khan,” Qureshi said in a press conference.
Omar Ayub has also termed the report “totally fabricated” and reiterated that “Imran Khan is our Chairman and will remain Chairman PTI,” Geo News reported.
He also denied the existence of any groups in PTI or the core committee.
Meanwhile, the ousted premier Imran Khan was again put behind bars at Attock Jail earlier this month after a trial court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in prison and imposed an Rs100,000 fine after he was found guilty of concealing proceeds of Toshakhana (state depository) gifts that he received from foreign dignitaries as the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022.
Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him for five years from holding public office following his conviction.