Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers have begun stepping down from parliamentary standing committees, acting on the directives of the party’s founder and former prime minister Imran Khan. The development marks another significant move in PTI’s evolving political strategy, which also includes boycotting the upcoming by-elections in several constituencies.
Several party members have already submitted their resignations from various National Assembly committees. Among them, Ali Asghar resigned from the Cabinet, Privatisation, and Planning committees, while Sajid Khan stepped down from the Overseas, National Heritage, and Kashmir-related committees. Sajid went further, stating he would be ready to vacate his National Assembly seat if Imran Khan instructed him to do so.
Similarly, Faisal Amin Khan, brother of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, relinquished his memberships of the Economic Affairs, Food Security, and Parliamentary Task Force committees.
Shahid Khattak announced his withdrawal from all standing committees, and Asif Khan resigned from the Education, National Heritage, Culture, and Information and Broadcasting committees.
In a parallel move, Junaid Akbar tendered his resignation as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, submitting it to the party’s chief whip, Amir Dogar, in line with PTI’s political committee’s guidance.
Party sources confirmed that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has already received the resignations of Faisal and Ali. PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram has also quit all his parliamentary committee memberships, forwarding his resignation to the Speaker.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan has instructed party leaders to withdraw from the Judicial Commission as well, claiming the party’s participation in the body has become ineffective. While PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and Senator Ali Zafar are members of the commission, sources suggest Gohar has not yet formally resigned.
This is not the first time PTI has adopted such measures. In 2023, the party dissolved the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in protest against the then-PDM-led government.
The current resignations and boycott of upcoming by-polls follow the disqualification of several PTI lawmakers by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in cases related to the May 9 riots. PTI has declared those disqualified individuals its “true representatives” and will not contest the vacant seats.
Meanwhile, the ruling coalition — comprising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — has announced that it will jointly contest the by-elections, setting the stage for a highly contested electoral environment despite PTI’s absence.
