Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram has criticised ARY News for airing "false news" about an alleged internal rift within the party regarding the distribution of Senate election tickets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

 

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Akram termed the broadcast 'baseless,' alleging that the channel was attempting to malign Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and the family of incarcerated PTI founder and former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

 

The controversy stemmed from reported differences between KP CM Gandapur, Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan, and KP Adviser on Information Barrister Saif over the distribution of Senate tickets.

 

According to ARY News, Imran Khan gave Saif a list of six Senate nominees during a meeting at Adiala Jail and instructed him to announce the names afterwards. However, Gandapur allegedly intervened to stop the announcement.

 

ARY further reported that when Saif was urged to resolve the matter through party consultation, he insisted that Khan’s nominations were final. He warned that if any changes were made, he would resign from his post.

 

ARY also reported that Gandapur and Aleema Khan wanted to exclude two names from the list, including Mashal Yousafzai, the former special assistant to the KP CM, but Saif stood by Khan’s original picks.

 

“I have spoken to Barrister Saif, who is saying he had not spoken to anyone in ARY,” the PTI information secretary said, adding that Aleema Khan was deeply hurt that some people, as part of an organised propaganda campaign, are attempting to malign them.

 

Akram lambasted ARY News for airing a “one-sided story” and not taking his version before broadcasting the report. “Was the Information Secretary of PTI unavailable. Couldn’t you ask Aleema Khan or the [KP] chief minister [for confirmation]?” he questioned.

 

Condemning the news report, Akram announced a temporary boycott of ARY News. “We are telling our people that today, no one from PTI will appear on any ARY programme,” he stated.

 

He concluded by demanding “an apology” from ARY News.