March 22, 2022
In its presidential reference to the Supreme Court, the ruling PTI shunned the act of switching parties and floor crossing by members of the parliament as “cancerous”.
It pleaded with the Court to eradicate the practice altogether by disqualifying “habitual turncoats” for life.
But the PTI has not always rallied against those who change party allegiances. In fact in 2018, 46 candidates, in the race for national assembly seats, who won on the PTI ticket, were previously with their rival political parties.
Read more: Dissident PTI lawmakers spurn PM’s offer to rejoin government
Not only that, after coming to power in August 2018, Khan’s political party, which was gearing to form government in the centre, took in five members of the national assembly (MNAs) who had won the national polls independently.
These five men were: Syed Fakhar Imam, Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo, Muhammad Shabbir Ali, Basit Sultan Bukhari and Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa. Two of these — Imam and Ali — were later also made ministers in the PTI government.
It is important to mention here that these five MNAs, and several other members of the provincial assembly in Punjab, joined the PTI due to the efforts of businessman and politician Jahangir Khan Tareen.
Even at this moment, there are 51 sitting MNAs, who had defected from other political parties to join PTI in 2018, of which 10 are sitting federal ministers.
Here are their names:
Name |
Party right now |
Parties in the past |
Sher Akbar Khan |
PTI |
JI, PPP-S |
Prince Muhammad Nawaz Allai |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Omer Ayub Khan |
|
PML-Q, PML-N |
Usman Khan Tarakai |
PTI |
IJIP |
Pervez Khattak |
PTI |
PPP, PPP-S |
Noor Alam Khan |
PTI |
PPP |
Noor ul Haq Qadri |
PTI |
INDP |
Jawwad Hussain Turi |
PTI |
INDP |
Maj r Tahir Sadiq |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Ghulam Sarwar Khan |
PTI |
PPP, PML-Q |
Sardar Zulfiqar Dullah |
|
PML-N |
Ch Farrukh Altaf |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Ch Fawad |
PTI |
PML-Q, APML, PPP |
Ch Shaukat Bhatti |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Ch Amir Sultan Cheema |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Malik Umar Aslam Awan |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Sana ullah Masti Khel |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Afzal Khan Dhandhla |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Ghulam Muhammad Lali |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Ch Asim Nazir |
PTI |
PML-N, PML-Q |
Nawab Sher Waseer |
PTI |
PPP |
Raza Nasrullah Ghumman |
PTI |
PML-N |
Faiz ullah Kamoka |
PTI |
|
Raja Riaz |
PTI |
PPP |
Riaz Fatyana |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Ghulam BiBi Bharwana |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Shafqat Mehmood |
PTI |
PPP |
Malik Karamat Khokhar |
PTI |
PPP |
Sardar Talib Nakai |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-J |
Syed Fakhar Imam |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N, PPP |
Malik Ahmad Hussain Dehar |
PTI |
PPP |
Malik Amir Dogar |
PTI |
PPP |
Shah Mehmood Qureshi |
PTI |
PML-N, PPP |
Rana Qasim Noon |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Mian Shafiq |
PTI |
PPP |
Tahir Iqbal |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Aurangzeb Khichi |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Farooq Azam Malik |
PTI |
National Alliance, PPP |
Makhdoom Khusro Bukhtiar |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Chaudhary Javed Iqbal Warraich |
PTI |
PPP |
Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan |
PTI |
PML-Q, PML-N |
Amir Talal Gopang |
PTI |
PML-N |
Niaz Ahmed Jakhar |
PTI |
PPP, PML-Q |
Khawja Sheraz Mehmood |
PTI |
PML-Q, PPP |
Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Sardar Jaffar Khan Leghari |
PTI |
National Alliance, PML-Q, PML-N |
Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Muhammad Mian Soomro |
PTI |
PML-Q |
Amir Liaqat Hussain |
PTI |
MQM |
Abdul Shakoor Shad |
PTI |
PPP |