ISLAMABAD: In a bold political manoeuvre laced with defiance, the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Gohar Ali Khan on Thursday resigned from four key National Assembly panels – a move orchestrated at the direction of jailed party founder Imran Khan.
Gohar’s resignation from the Law and Justice, Human Rights, Information Technology, and House Business Advisory committees marks a growing rupture in parliamentary norms, as PTI MPs continue to withdraw en masse from standing committees in what appears to be an orchestrated parliamentary sabotage.
At least 18 PTI lawmakers have now jumped ship from National Assembly bodies, abandoning legislative responsibilities amid the party’s escalating standoff with the state.
The move is part of a broader strategy: boycott the upcoming by-elections, paint the current system as illegitimate, and deepen the political crisis already rocking Islamabad.
Among those following Gohar’s lead are prominent party figures including Faisal Amin Gandapur, Shaharyar Afridi, Junaid Akbar Khan, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Amir Dogar, Sanuallah Mastikhel and others.
Their resignations, sources say, were coordinated directly from the PTI’s war room, with Imran Khan’s word treated as gospel despite his incarceration.
Junaid Akbar, who chaired the powerful Public Accounts Committee, handed his resignation to Chief Whip Dogar after receiving marching orders from the party’s top brass.
Meanwhile, lawmakers such as Shahid Khattak, Sajid Khan, and Asif Khan also relinquished their posts on a raft of other committees, ranging from Education and Heritage to Food Security and Privatisation.
Lawmaker, Sajid Khan, even declared he would vacate his National Assembly seat if Imran Khan so ordered — a striking display of loyalty still pulsing through PTI ranks.
The committee exodus comes on the heels of a sweeping disqualification drive by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which in recent months barred dozens of PTI lawmakers over alleged roles in the violent May 9, 2023 protests. That day saw state buildings torched and civil-military relations fractured, setting the stage for today’s institutional meltdown.
But the purges haven’t cowed the PTI – quite the opposite. Imran Khan has now instructed party representatives to also quit the Judicial Commission, calling its function “ineffective” and branding the system as irrevocably broken. Barrister Gohar and Senator Ali Zafar, both members of the Commission, are expected to resign imminently.
Sources inside PTI said this coordinated parliamentary retreat is meant to delegitimise all democratic processes not under the party’s control.
PTI has vowed to boycott upcoming by-elections in constituencies left vacant by disqualified lawmakers, arguing the expelled candidates are its “true representatives” and deserve no replacement.
In contrast, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – unlikely bedfellows in any other political climate – have announced a united front to contest the by-elections, hoping to mop up the spoils of PTI’s self-imposed isolation.
For now, the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq continues to receive resignation letters – each one a small grenade lobbed into the machinery of the teething democracy. The PTI, once the ruling party, is turning its back on Parliament, choosing spectacle over statesmanship, and dissent over dialogue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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