PTI lawmakers quit standing committees
Lawmakers from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday quit the chairmanship of several National Assembly standing committees, implementing the directives of the PTI leadership, party officials said.
Speaking to the media, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Junaid Akbar confirmed that he had resigned following directives from the party leadership. "Implementing the directives of the party leadership is a collective responsibility of all members," he said.
PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram also resigned from PAC and the Information Committee. "Following the instructions of our leader Imran Khan, I submitted my resignation this morning from the Public Accounts Committee and the Information Committee," he said on X.
PTI's chief whip in the National Assembly, Malik Amir Dogar, confirmed that the PTI members in the standing committees had begun submitting their resignations following the directives from the party founder Imran Khan.
He mentioned that the PTI chief had awarded the positions to the party members in the parliamentary committees, and his instructions would be followed in letter and spirit. "PTI's parliamentary team stands by the decisions of the party leadership and will continue to follow the instructions from the top."
Moreover, PTI leaders Faisal Amin and Ali Asghar submitted their resignations from their positions in the National Assembly's standing committees. Their formal resignations have been submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat.
Asghar has stepped down from the standing committees on the cabinet secretariat, privatisation, and planning and development, while Amin resigned from the standing committees on economic affairs and national food security.
Currently, PTI holds representation in 29 standing committees, and its members chair eight of these committees. PTI's panel member in the PAC, Sanaullah Mastikhel confirmed that the PTI members were set to resign from all parliamentary committees.
Earlier, all PTI members boycotted Wednesday's session of the PAC, except PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz, who attended the meeting via video link but left midway in protest. During the session, the committee secretary expressed concern over Akbar's absence.
A day earlier, Imran Khan had instructed the party not to participate in upcoming by-elections. He also advised the parliamentary members to resign from all committees and referred the matter to the party's political committee for final consultation.
The instructions were relayed after a meeting at Adiala Jail with his sisters, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, as well as senior party leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Akram Raja, and Barrister Ali Zafar.
In line with instructions from the party's founding chairman, PTI's political committee, after extensive deliberations in a meeting, unanimously endorsed the boycott and resolved that party lawmakers in the National Assembly would resign from their committee memberships.
According to party sources, the meeting was convened to chart out PTI's electoral strategy in the wake of recent disqualifications that have created vacancies for national and provincial assembly by-polls. Members were explicitly asked to give their views on whether the party should contest the elections.
The proposal to boycott was unanimously approved, with senior leaders, including Sanaullah Masti Khel, Barrister Gohar, Sheikh Waqas Akram and Amir Dogar, strongly supporting the move, calling it consistent with the guidance of Imran Khan.