Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P; Urdu: پاکستان تحریکِ انصاف پارلیمنٹرینز) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded on 17 July 2023 by the former Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak. The party was formed as a reaction to the 2023 Pakistani protests by breaking away from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.[2][3][4]
On 9 May 2023, Imran Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau in the Al-Qadir University case from inside the Islamabad High Court. As a result, mass protests were held across the country during which some military installations were attacked, such as the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander House in Lahore.[5]
In the aftermath of these events, many politicians from the PTI had condemned the protests and announced their resignations from the party due to pressure from the Pakistani army. On 2 June 2023, Pervez Khattak, the former Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Minister of Defence, while not leaving the party, had resigned from his position as the party's provincial president in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[6][7]
On 12 July 2023, Khattak's basic membership with the PTI was terminated due to his lack of response to a show-cause notice which was issued because of allegations that he was inciting other members to leave the party.[8]
Five days later, on 17 July, Khattak announced his own breakaway party called the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) at a gathering he had held with other senior politicians. Mahmood Khan, another former Chief Minister of the province, sat alongside Khattak at the time of the announcement. According to a handout issued at the gathering, Khattak would be the chief of the PTI-P while more than 57 former members of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had joined. The handout further explained that the cause of the new party's formation was difference and conflict with the PTI over the 9 May protests.[9]