Dharshini RDA 
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) finds itself embroiled in internal discord following the dismissal of Mashal Yousafzai, special assistant to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Chief Minister. Her sacking comes at the backdrop of an interview where she gave details about the protest march held in November showing the splits within the party leadership. The official dismissal announcement was made by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in this case which was a major development in the parties political crisis.
Mashal Yousafzai also denied her dismissal and said that she was fired because of her comments made at a television interview the other day. She offered never-seen-before details about Bushra Bibi’s participation in the protest and unveiled many aspects about the march’s conditions. Yousafzai further said that Bushra Bibi insisted on Imran Khan ordering the march to D-Chowk and that chemicals had been thrown at her car’s windscreen.
The interview gave insights into why internal communication seemed to have failed, with Yousafzai saying that after the first protest, she and Bushra Bibi never saw each other again because of stampede and regaining contact only after two days. She disclosed key operational details such as the shifting of routes and more shockingly the lack of presence of Bushra Bibi’s sister Maryam Watoo at the time of the protest.
It has been claimed that K-P Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur was willing to step down from his post as provincial party president owing to such criticism and internal strife. A variety of possibilities was a major topic of the meeting; one of them is Governor’s rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where PTI is at the head of the government now. Starting as a potentially persuasive protest march, it turned into what the party workers called a “nightmarish scenario”.
