<\/p>\n
6 months after the riots that followed Imran Khan’s May 9 arrest, we look at what led to that fateful day and the aftermath.<\/p>\n
PTI leaders are still<\/em> ditching their party in the wake of the events of May 9 riots that followed Imran Khan\u2019s arrest, which occurred half a year ago.<\/p>\n One of the latest additions to the long list of defectors<\/a> is Sadaqat Ali Abbasi<\/a>, who resigned from his party position and retired from politics during a live TV interview last month.<\/p>\n The PTI leader had disappeared for several months, leading to speculations of being \u2018picked up<\/a>\u2019 after May 9. Upon his return<\/a>, he was quick to condemn the \u201cradical\u201d views against the establishment within his now former party and declared that he could no longer \u201cshoulder the burden of the events of May 9\u201d.<\/p>\n He is not the only one.<\/p>\n Ever since the events of May 9, PTI leaders have been leaving the Imran Khan-led party. It is almost like clockwork how each member goes through the same process: getting \u2018picked up\u2019 or arrested, coming forward, condemning the May 9 violence, and then quitting the party \u2014 and\/or politics altogether. Wash, rinse, repeat.<\/p>\n But how did the most popular party in the country go from widespread acceptance to the margins of obscurity within half a year? To understand this, Dawn.com<\/em> traces the events that led to that infamous May day six months ago and the subsequent exodus of PTI members, as well as the party\u2019s unravelling.<\/p>\n This piece will not be covering every single event that transpired but is a broad refresher to what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n It can be argued that the beginning of the end started much before \u2014 when the \u2018same page\u2019 tore<\/a> in Oct 2022 \u2014 the culmination of the gulf between the PTI and its benefactors was the no-confidence vote.<\/p>\n Imran Khan became the first prime minister in Pakistan to be ousted from his position via a no-confidence vote<\/a>, executed under Article 95 of the Constitution on April 10 last year. A total of 174 out of the 342 members in the parliament voted in support of the opposition\u2019s motion of no confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one we had declared selected, the non-democratic burden this country was bearing for the past three years, today, April 10, 2022, welcome back to purana<\/em> (old) Pakistan,\u201d said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.<\/p>\n On May 22, the PTI chairman announced his party\u2019s long march<\/a> towards Islamabad for two main demands: the dissolution of assemblies and a date for elections. The march would commence three days later and in so many words, told the military establishment to stick to its stated stance<\/a> of being \u201cneutral\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to give a little background of how we reached here. There was a foreign conspiracy against Pakistan from the US. In this regime change, they used locals \u2014 the most corrupt people, who were ready to become part of any conspiracy to save their corruption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, we couldn\u2019t stop it.\u201d<\/p>\nBeginning of the end<\/h2>\n