MNA Ayesha Gulalai, on Tuesday, announced that she will quit the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI).

Citing ill-treatment of women in the party as the reason for her decision, she said that she had conveyed her grievances to the PTI leadership but no action was taken, which forced her to take the decision.

The announcement came moments ahead of the prime ministerial election in National Assembly.

“Women workers are not respected in the PTI and a respectable woman worker cannot remain in the party,” Gulalai said.

She also lamented the kind of culture some party leaders were trying to promote, which she said was not in line with Pukhtoon cultural values. “A respectable female worker cannot remain in the party,” she said.

She said that Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution should also be applicable to morally corrupt people.

She added that workers in the party had been protesting on several issues, including corruption. However, she said “the atmosphere in the party does not support these things. The way the PTI is portrayed is not the actual reality of the party.”

Gulalai, who was elected to the NA on a reserved seat for women from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), has been a staunch and vocal supporter of the PTI and Imran Khan and often featured on prime time talk shows to defend party policies.

She will be resigning from both, her party membership and the seat in NA.

Commenting on her departure, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman tweeted: “MNA Ayesha Gulalai’s rebuke adds to the disquiet about a woman’s place in the party.”

Another educated woman exits the PTI. MNA Ayesha Gulalai’s rebuke adds to the disquiet about a woman’s place in the party. Not good https://t.co/2jJiIraLtV — SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) August 1, 2017

Speaking to a private news channel, Gulalai said, “I have been in PTI for a very long time and I tolerated the treatment for a long time, I even stepped back and enrolled for a PhD course, because respectable women are not safe in PTI.”

She clarified that there is no confirmation about her joining Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), but added that she knows that Nawaz Sharif is a family-man who knows how to respect women.

She cited an earlier incident in New York where a US House of Representatives—Anthony Weiner who resigned from the US House of Representatives over sending explicit messages—resigned over charges of sexual misconduct.

Gulalai also revealed that she met PTI Chairman Imran Khan, along with a delegation, recently to talk about the ‘corruption’ of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak regarding the party’s Billion Tree Tsunami campaign under way in KP.

When she was asked whether her reason for leaving PTI was rampant corruption or the safety of women and their dignity, she specified that it was the latter.

It is crucial to mention here that when some channels reported the development, PTI’s spokesman claimed the post was fake and would be deleted, and a clarification would be issued by Gulalai, adding that the accounts for Gulalai were being run by her brother.

Later, speaking to the media, Gulalai confirmed that she had, in fact, left PTI, citing the same reasons mentioned in her social media post that ‘the image of the party shown to the world is not the reality of what goes on inside the party.’

According to sources, her meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Monday lasted three hours but PTI Spokesman Fawad Chaudhry told journalists that he did not know about any complaints that Gulalai had with the party.

Naz Baloch, another female politician, had quit the party earlier this month to join PPP, claiming that only male members were given importance, and women party workers were kept at a distance while the youth was restricted only to social media.

SHIREEN MAZARI CALLS GULALAI AN ‘OPPORTUNIST’:

Women leaders of PTI came out in defence of their party, as well as chairman Imran Khan, calling former member Ayesha Gulalai an opportunist for levelling allegations of corruption and sexism in the party.

Addressing the media, senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari said Gulalai had wanted a seat for NA-1 and is now hurling accusations, even though the decision about handing out tickets has not been finalised.

Mazari said that Gulalai could have left the party if she had wanted to but should have refrained from hurling false accusations against PTI chief.

“Imran Khan gave respect to us…Gulalai doesn’t realise how much respect she was given,” she said.

Mazari then criticised political rivals, asking if Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Khawaja Asif had forgotten “that he said things about me [as well]”.