Claim: A viral tweet by @wikiboy5 and a Facebook post by Abdul Latif Awan claimed that former federal minister and PTI leader Zartaj Gul has joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Fact: Zartaj Gul did not leave PTI or join PPP. She remains a senior PTI leader and a supporter of Imran Khan. The post did not provide any source or evidence for the claim.
On 20 July 2023, a tweet by user @wikiboy5 went viral on social media. The post claimed that former federal minister and PTI leader Zartaj Gul has joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Fact or Fiction?
This claim is false. The posts by Twitter user @wikiboy5 and various Facebook users did not mention any source or evidence for the claim that Zartaj Gul has left PTI or joined PPP. Soch Fact Check could not find any official announcement or confirmation from Zartaj Gul, PPP or PTI regarding this claim.
We reviewed her Twitter account and noticed that she has not posted any tweets since 17 May 2023; the pinned tweet on her profile and the bio on her legacy verified Twitter account clearly show her support for PTI and Imran Khan.
Punjab police had registered cases against 55 PTI protesters in May 2023; 25 of them were nominated candidates, including Zartaj Gul. These cases were registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Her diplomatic passport was also cancelled.
Next month, a commercial market owned by Zartaj Gul’s husband and father-in-law was sealed for non-payment of corporation fees and map disapproval. Zartaj Gul’s name was also mentioned in a list compiled by the authorities, based on which arrests against PTI were to be made.
On 26 July 2023, Soch Fact Check reached out to Farhatullah Babar, a senior PPP member who told us that there is no truth in this report, “I can not say if the PPP party of her constituency will welcome her. When I saw similar posts on social media, I checked with party presidents of Punjab and KPK if any such move was afoot, and they said they were not,” he said.
We also got in touch with Imran Ghazali, PTI’s digital media strategist, but were unable to get directly in touch with Zartaj Gul. Ghazali explained that her close aids have clarified this to be fake news
Virality
The Twitter post had 29,000 views, 100 retweets and 650 reactions as of 22 July 2023. The Facebook posts had more than 100 reactions, 30 comments and 10 shares in total as of 22 July 2023. The same claim was posted a number of times on Facebook, for example here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Zartaj Gul did not leave PTI or join PPP. She remains a senior PTI leader and a supporter of Imran Khan.