PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf activists on Friday said chairman of the party Imran Khan had fulfilled his commitment to bring a real change in the system by ensuring accountability of influential people, including a sitting minister, and that they would continue supporting such steps.

Accompanied by dozens of party workers, former PTI Peshawar district president Zafarullah Khattak told a news conference here that it was the first time in the province`s history that a sitting minister, Ziaullah Afridi of mines and min-eral development department, had been arrested on the charge of corruption.

He said the party leadership should suspend the basic membership of the arrested minister before taking disciplinary action against him.

`We, the ideological workers, had founded PTI in Peshawar and attached high hopes to the party but some elements had manipulated the last intra-party elections and blocked our way and thus, helping wealthy people get the party`s key positions,` he said.

The PTIleader said distribution of party tickets for the 2013 elections were influenced by formerprovincial office-bearers of the party in connivance with some leaders in the centre and thus, depriving senior activists of tickets.

He added that those who joined the party in 2012 got election tickets and secured significant positions in the provincial government.

`We have reservations about the government policies but the arrest of a sitting minister has proved that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak is sincere about rooting out corruption and therefore, we support his government,` he said.

Khattak said PTI workers had reservations over different decisions but they continued their struggle forreforms in the party instead of parting ways with it.

He said the credit of PTI`s success in the 2013 general and May 30 local government elections went to the workers who forgot their personal ego and proved their commitment withthe party and Imran Khan.

`We`d formed the party in Peshawar when there were a handful of workers in Peshawar and wish it to remain in power and focus on solution to problems faced by the needy people,` he said.

The PTI leader said during initial days, he faced to organise the party in the provincial capital and that whatever structure he had made was intact helping candidates win elections with an overwhelming majority.

He said he expressed the hope that the party leadership would realise the importance of ideological workers and give them a chance to work on different seats of the party. Khattak said it was also the duty of the government to pay attention to their problems and resolve them on merit.

`Such acts of accountability will give a boost to our party in the province,` he said. The PTI leader urged the Ehtesab commission to act against all lawmakers, bureaucrats and government officials facing corruption.

Also in the day, PTI workers demonstrated along Sher Shah Soori Road to praise Imran Khan and Pervez Khattak over crackdown on corruption.