National Assembly: IK asks PTI members to quit all parliamentary committees

ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the jailed former prime minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Tuesday directed his party members to resign from all parliamentary committees as part of a strategy to reject the upcoming by-elections.

Aleema Khan, Imran Khan’s sister, said after a rare meeting with him at Adiala Jail that he had instructed all PTI members to immediately step down from their committee roles in the National Assembly.

“He has ordered all party members to tender their resignations,” Aleema told reporters. She added that Khan also instructed PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and General Secretary Salman Akram Raja to boycott the by-elections, describing participation as a move that would ‘only legitimise a flawed process’.

The party, according to sources within PTI, is divided over this decision as the majority of senior party leaders want to contest the forthcoming by-elections.

They said that a political committee vote was split, with 13 members in favour of contesting the elections and nine opposed. This split led Raja to offer his resignation, although Khan has refused to accept it.

Aleema also shared Khan’s concern over the arrest of his nephews Shershah and Shahrez, who face charges related to the 9 May 2023 riots.

Police allege Shershah was involved in attacks on officers and have video evidence placing him at the scene, while Shahrez’s name appeared in supplementary investigation reports last year.

“These punishments and disqualifications have never happened before in the political history of the country,” Aleema quoted her brother as saying.

On a personal note, Imran Khan lamented the current state of Pakistan cricket under PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi and expressed sorrow over the devastating floods in Buner, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Chitral.

Aleema confirmed that Khan’s health remains stable, though he suffers from an eye condition for which a court petition will seek treatment by specialists from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.

This was the first time Khan’s sisters were allowed to meet him in over four months. ‘By the grace of Allah, we were finally able to see him today,’ Aleema said.

As Khan and the PTI face intensifying legal and political pressure, the opposition and democratic institutions brace for a challenging period ahead.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025