Repeatedly advised PTI chief to have 'positive thinking', says Khattak

• We don't indulge in rivalries over political differences, says Khattak.
• He says May 9 attacks carried out under well-conceived conspiracy.
• Consulting lawmakers on how to steer country out of crises: Khattak.

NOWSHERA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ex-provincial president Pervez Khattak said Saturday that he had repeatedly advised the party's chairman to have "positive thinking", but the latter did not heed his advice.

Khattak's remarks came during a talk with media personnel at his residence in Manki Sharif in the Nowshera, where many people had turned up to exchange Eid ul Adha greetings with him.

Visibly unbothered by the show-cause notice issued to him, the former defence minister remarked that he was not a government servant but a politician.

He said it was part of his profession to have contacts with political workers and supporters to seek their support.

"Our province has its own traditions. We don't indulge in rivalries over political differences," Khattak said, adding that he had met his party MNAs and MPAs for consultations and would continue to do so in the future.

The PTI, on June 22, issued Khattak a show-cause notice seeking an explanation for allegedly inciting members to leave the party.

The notice issued by PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan required Khattak to explain his position on the anti-party move within seven days of the notice.

It was also made clear in the notice that if his reply was found unsatisfactory or he did not respond, further action would be taken as per the party policy and rules.

The senior Nowshera leader is yet to respond. 

Moreover, the ex-PTI provincial president said the May 9 attacks were carried out under a well-conceived conspiracy to undermine the army and desecrate the martyrs.

He said the former prime minister had not taken the party's leadership into confidence and consulted only a few persons.

A handful of workers motivated by "revolutionary thinking" caused immense damage to the country — which even its enemies could not do in the last 75 years — he added.

"I reject this revolutionary thinking," Khattak remarked, adding that he believed in non-violence and peace. He said that showing disrespect to national institutions was not his way of doing politics.

About his plans, he said that he was holding consultations with former lawmakers from all over the province to come up with a strategy to steer the country out of the prevailing crises. Pervez Khattak said that the country could not afford revolutionary politics.