PESHAWAR: As internal differences within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to intensify, the party has constituted a six-member committee headed by Asad Qaiser to bridge the widening divide between its parliamentary members and the provincial government.
According to a formal communique issued by the PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretariat under the signature of the provincial secretary general, the committee has been officially notified and charged with restoring coordination and cohesion within the party’s provincial structure at the earliest.
The committee’s formation comes against the backdrop of a deepening political crisis inside PTI’s KP chapter. According to sources, a forward bloc has emerged within the party’s provincial ranks, with nearly 30 MPAs absent from a parliamentary meeting convened by Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Sunday, an absence widely regarded as a calculated show of dissent. The situation has been inflamed by intense behind-the-scenes manoeuvring over the chief ministership, with several senior party figures actively positioning themselves for the slot and mobilising their respective support bases, pushing the provincial political temperature to a boiling point.
The six-member panel comprises senior figures drawn from across PTI’s legislative and organisational hierarchy in the province. KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and Provincial General Secretary Ali Asghar Khan have been included as core members, lending the committee both legislative standing and administrative authority.
Provincial ministers Meena Khan and Akbar Ayub, along with PTI leader Atif Khan, complete the membership, ensuring representation from both the executive and the party’s regional grassroots leadership.
As per the official notification, the committee’s primary responsibility will be to serve as a coordination and liaison mechanism between Members of Parliament, the parliamentary party, and the provincial government three tiers of the party structure whose lack of alignment has been at the root of the ongoing internal tensions.
Beyond its mediatory role, the committee will also function as an advisory and consultative forum for Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, the provincial president, and the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ain-e-Pakistan, signalling a deliberate effort by the party to consolidate its KP decision-making structure under a single coordinating body.
The formal constitution of this committee represents an institutional acknowledgement by PTI’s provincial leadership that internal faultlines have reached a degree of severity requiring structured, top-level intervention.
With Asad Qaiser one of the party’s most senior figure at the helm, the committee carries significant political weight and is expected to begin its consultative process in the coming days. Three PTI MPAs on condition of anonymity told The News that certain elected representatives are having serious reservations about the chief minister but they can’t express their concerns openly fearing that they might be accused of working against the party and in future they may not get party tickets.
