Imran Khan asks Akbar S. Babar to help reunite PTI’s early members

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has asked former party associate and founding leader Akbar S. Babar to bring together the party’s early members, disgruntled leaders and workers, Babar has claimed.

Speaking to a news channel, Babar said that the message was conveyed to him through another longtime friend of Khan who is also in jail.

According to Babar, Khan said that if he was released, his first visit would be to Babar’s house.

Babar stated that he had since begun contacting former founding leaders and workers who had become dissatisfied with the party or left it.

A four-member committee has been formed under former PTI Punjab senior vice president Rana Sohail to assist with the effort.

The committee includes former PTI founding leader Amin Zaki, Faisal Pirzada and Insaf Students Federation founding leader Asif Ahmed.

Babar confirmed that the group had started reaching out to early PTI associates as part of the reunification effort.

He said he had no personal differences with Khan and described their past disagreements as political.

Babar added that he would warmly welcome Khan and embrace him if the PTI founder visited his home.

Babar pointed out that the initiative was aimed at bringing together people who had contributed their time, energy and made sacrifices during the party’s establishment and early political struggle, rather than confronting any individual.

He observed that many former associates had left the PTI because of people motivated by a “hunger for power”, while the response to Khan’s latest message had been positive.

Babar said that a convention of early and disgruntled PTI members was planned in Lahore next month following efforts to reunite them.

Babar is among the founding members of the PTI. He also filed a foreign funding case against the party with the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2014, alleging financial irregularities and the receipt of prohibited funds.

The case led to prolonged scrutiny of the PTI’s financial records and bank accounts. In August 2022, the ECP concluded that the party had received prohibited funding and directed its scrutiny committee to identify the funds and their sources.

The PTI rejected the ECP’s findings and has maintained that it did not receive prohibited funding. Babar has continued to pursue the matter and challenge the party’s financial disclosures.