Won't plead with Imran to take me back into PTI, says Marwat

Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Sunday said that he would not beg incarcerated party founder Imran Khan to take him back into the party fold.  

Speaking on Geo News programme “Jirga”, Marwat, who was expelled from the PTI for the third time in February this year, said: “I was expelled [from the party] again and again and my self-respect was undermined repeatedly.”

The disheartened former PTI leader said that now it doesn’t make a difference whether he was allowed to rejoin the party or not. 

Marwat, however, said he wanted to meet Khan to apprise him about the "injustices" committed against him. 

Responding to a question, the MNA said that the current PTI leadership did not have any strategy or plan to get Khan released from jail.

The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases ranging from corruption to terrorism since his ouster from power via the opposition's no-trust motion in April 2022.

In February this year, the PTI founder ordered immediate expulsion of firebrand leader Marwat from the party owing to his continued violation of party discipline.

The directives were issued during a meeting between the PTI leaders and ex-premier Khan at Rawalpindi's Adiala jail during the hearing of the GHQ attack case.

The leaders who met the PTI founder include Omar Ayub Khan, Shibli Faraz, and Senator Ali Zafar where they complained about Marwat's behaviour at the Swabi public gathering.

PTI founder expresses outrage over Marwat's unnecessary speech at Swabi rally. 

Following the directives, the former ruling party's Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi issued a notification, stating: "Further to the show cause notice issued to Sher Afzal Marwat and his subsequent reply, the party has considered his reply and also his actions subject to the show cause notice."

"Taking both these aspects into consideration and on the instructions of the Founding Chairman of the Party Sher Afzal Marwat is being expelled from the party with immediate effect," it concluded.

The former ruling party had organised a protest rally in Swabi against alleged election rigging on February 8 where Marwat was reportedly not allowed to come on the stage, however, he managed to deliver a speech after being called to the stage by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

Addressing the rally, Marwat, in a cryptic way, said that "bad people" always became helpful during "bad times", but some "good people in good times" have zipped their lips.