ISLAMABAD: Asad Umar, a close aide and head of Mr Khan’s economic team, stepped down from his party office in light of the crackdown on the former ruling party.

Mr Umar, however, did not quit the party like his former colleagues Shireen Mazari, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan and several others who bid adieu to the PTI in recent days.

According to Asad Umar, he was not quitting the party offices “under pressure” a statement in contrast to claims made by the PTI chairman, who accused the powers that be of coercing members to exit.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, the PTI leader said he remained the secretary general of the party for 17 months, of which the past 13 were “the most difficult time” for the PTI. He said that thousands of innocent workers were under arrest and they should be released at the earliest.

He said he had spent 15 days in jail and added that everyone had condemned the riots as shocking. “I would say a transparent inquiry should be held as thousands of persons are under arrest [for alleged role in violence]. Those who were involved should be punished,” he said.

Mr Umar claimed that the “good thing is that the chief justice of Pakistan has been suggesting [political parties to] hold dialogue, the Corps Commander conference and friends of Pakistan also want a political solution to the current issue.

The PTI leader said that he had no pressure to quit the party and that is why he decided to resign from party positions and will remain associated with the party. He claimed that PTI was the most popular party in Pakistan and it was yet to see if May 9 riots had affected the party or not.

Fawad Chaudhry, who was the senior vice president of the PTI, also parted ways with Imran Khan in a tweet posted on his Twitter on Wednesday. Mr Chaudhry, who went to Jhelum after being released from jail, had not given any statement till now.

“Ref. my earlier statement where I unequivocally condemned 9th May incidents, I have decided to take a break from politics, therefore, I have resigned from party position and parting ways from [sic] Imran Khan,” he said in a tweet while referring to his media talk after release from jail.

Since the crackdown on the PTI following May 9, Mr Chaudhry had spent two days – separately – on the premises of courts to avoid arrest.

Last week, as he was leaving the Islamabad High Court, he dashed to the court after seeing policemen outside the court and did not leave the premises for several hours. Eventually, he held a media talk outside the court and condemned the violence as well as expressed support for the Pakistan Army in wake of attacks on its property. Later, he was allowed to go home.