A dispute has surfaced within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) internal accountability committee over a reported breach of the code of conduct related to an inquiry into corruption allegations against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.
Sources indicate that a disagreement developed between Brigadier (retd) Musaddiq Abbasi and senior lawyer Qazi Anwar, both members of the committee, over the handling of the investigation report. Tensions escalated when Anwar shared the report with prominent lawyer Salman Akram Raja, a move that the other committee members viewed as a clear violation of the committee’s internal protocols.
“The report was exclusively intended for submission to the PTI founder,” one committee member stated anonymously. “Sharing it externally, especially without prior consultation, was against our code.”
The action displeased the other two members, who believed that the sharing of sensitive documents without consensus violated the standard operating procedures governing the committee’s operations.
Anwar later confirmed that he had indeed shared the report with Raja, stating, “He requested the document, and I provided it,” while admitting that the committee’s rules explicitly restrict the report’s circulation to within the party leadership.
Regarding the content of the investigation, Anwar said that in his assessment, Babar Saleem Swati was not guilty of corruption. However, Abbasi held a differing view and did not agree with Anwar’s conclusions.
The third member, Shah Farman, along with Abbasi, chose not to make any public remarks on the matter. The internal rift has sparked concerns over the committee’s cohesion and its ability to uphold accountability within the party.
