ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Friday notified its 23-member new political committee, which also comprises members from Tehreek Tahaffuz Aiyeen e Pakistan (TTAP).
According to a notification, a copy of which is available with The News, the committee will come into effect from the date of notification.
The notification carries the signatures of PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi.
Unlike the previous committee that comprised around 40 members, the new committee will serve as the apex decision-making body with respect to all the decisions/functions of the party and its wings and other committees.
The political committee will also lay down policies to be followed by the parliamentary parties of the party in the National Assembly, the Senate and the provincial assemblies, including the assemblies of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir.
The committee comprises Chairman PTI Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Addl. Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, proposed Leader of Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, proposed Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai, outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the NA Omar Ayub Khan, outgoing Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz, Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Moeen Qureshi, outgoing Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, Secretary Overseas International Chapter Sajjad Burki, Provincial President/Chief Organizer Aliya Hamza (Punjab), Junaid Akbar (KP), Haleem Adil (Sindh), Dawood Kakar (Balochistan), Special Regions AJK and GB Khalid Khursheed and Sardar Qayyum Niazi, Secretary General TTAP Asad Qaiser, Chief Whip NA Amir Dogar, Coordinator in the Senate for the Senate Leader of the Opposition Fawzia Arshad, President Women’s Wing Kanwal Shauzab and President Minorities Wing Lal Chand Malhi.
According to the party sources, prominent among those, who have been left out (may be for the time-being), include Shahbaz Gill, Zulfi Bokhari, Atif Khan, Hammad Azhar and Salar Kakar.
The notification says further appointments or deletions may be made as required; sub-committees shall be formed with individuals having relevant experience, including the office-bearers of the wings of the party, invited to serve on the sub-committees.
The committee has been constituted by the PTI secretary general on the instructions of Imran Khan in consultation with senior colleagues in the party. Former information secretary and founding member of PTI Akbar S Babar has claimed that the formation of a new 23-member political committee through a notification issued on the PTI letterhead is unconstitutional, illegal and a blatant violation of the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan PLD 2018 page 370.
In his reaction to the political committee formation, he pointed out that a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had ruled that no criminal can be allowed to participate in politics directly or indirectly and all such actions are tantamount to violating the constitution.
He insisted that it is clearly written in the notification on the letterhead of PTI that the new political committee has been formed on the instructions of the founding chairman of PTI, who has been convicted by the court.
The Election Commission of Pakistan, he noted, had already informed in writing in this regard that no official and organisation of PTI has any legal status at present. “In these circumstances, the illegal use of the party’s resources, including offices and letterheads, should be stopped immediately,” he argued.
“We have already written to the Election Commission of Pakistan requesting that the illegal use of PTI resources be banned and bank accounts frozen until the legal party elections are held. We hope that the ECP will take notice of this latest violation of the constitution and take decisive action on our request,” he said.
