Fawad Ch comes under fire for his presence at the IPP launching. After leaving the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Fawad Chaudhry recently took a sabbatical from politics. He attracted attention when he was seen attending the Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party’s inauguration.
Jahangir Tareen, a former close aide to PTI Chairman Imran Khan, founded the IPP on Thursday with the intention of giving national politics a “new direction.”
A number of PTI deserters who left the Khan-led party during the May 9 riots, which included attacks on government and defence facilities, are said to have joined the Tareen.
As Fawad Ch comes under fire for his presence at the IPP launching, Only a few days ago, Fawad was one of the senior PTI officials that defected, declaring they would be taking a “break from politics.”
However, his attendance at Tareen’s party’s launch earlier today, which is viewed as a haven for PTI leaders breaking with Khan, drew criticism and a response from online users.
The politician decided to sit in the rear row of the auditorium, trying to disguise his face in an effort to escape public attention, despite having a place prepared for him on the main stage next to the senior leadership, according to videos of the launching event. He also appeared obviously upset.
Fawad was regarded as Khan’s outspoken spokesperson who often took the lead in defending the PTI against attacks from his political competitor.
During the PTI-led administration, he was the former ruling party’s chief spokesperson and the minister of information. His remark that the national coffers paid merely Rs. 50 per kilometer for the then-prime minister Imran Khan’s helicopter journey sparked debate in the nation’s politics.
Fawad remained a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) before joining the PTI in 2016. He then joined the PPP in 2012.
Following their joining the rival Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party, PTI defectors were mocked by journalists, lawmakers, and other citizens.
Also read: Watch: PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry runs to evade police arrest
“Fawad Chaudhary acting at the launch of IPP to keep his feet in two boats, trying to say as if he was forced by the establishment to be at the IPP launch. That’s not true: Fawad has been in it full time and all along,” said journalist Murtaza Ali Shah on his Twitter handle.
“History is brutal. Doesn’t forget. Doesn’t forgive,” said journalist Syed Talat Hussain as he shared a video of PTI deserter Ali Zaidi wherein he was calling his political opponents “thieves”.
