Claim: Neo News reported that PMLN leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has quit the party.
Fact: The claim is false. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi remains a senior leader within the PMLN and a close ally of Imran Khan.
On 20 January 2023 several social media users took to Facebook and Twitter to announce that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PMLN) had officially left the party in order to create a new one.
Some of these videos speculate that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has taken this decision with Miftah Ismail.
Fact or Fiction?
This claim is false. On 28 January 2022, PMLN leader Ahsan Iqbal confirmed to Soch Fact Check that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is still a member of PMLN, and any news regarding his departure is false.
Through reverse image searches, we found that most social media users were sourcing this information from a Neo News tweet published on 18 January 2023 but shortly deleted afterwards. However, in this short time, it was viewed by over 1200 social media users, who eventually spread it to other platforms without any further verification.
On 19 January 2023, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi spoke to The News and rejected the rumour that he or Miftah Ismail were considering leaving the party.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted searches on social media platforms using the following search terms:
- “Shahid Khaqan Abbasi” “left” “PMLN”
We found tweets here, here, here, here, here and here. We found posts on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi did not quit PMLN.