PTI suspends membership of ‘unruly’ Marwat – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The PTI has suspended the membership of Sher Afzal Marwat, a firebrand party leader who was elected to the National Assembly in the February 8 elections, following a meeting between jailed party founder Imran Khan and the top leadership in Adiala Jail. dusk have learned.

According to sources, the PTI leaders met with Imran Khan on Thursday where the decision regarding Mr Marwat was taken. “An official statement in this regard will be issued on Friday (today),” the party sources added.

They alleged that Mr Marwat was constantly violating party discipline and had made several statements criticising party leaders over the past month. In one statement, he allegedly made “derogatory remarks” about the party founder. “During the meeting with Imran Khan, it was agreed that no leader is above the party and all other leaders face the same fate if they cross the party line,” they added.

It may be noted that in May, MP Sher Afzal Marwat was removed from the PTI’s core and political committees by General Secretary Omar Ayub Khan on the instructions of Imran Khan after he made a controversial statement about Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in the ouster of Imran Khan in April 2022. Imran Khan was removed from the post of Prime Minister through a no-confidence motion by the joint opposition alliance.

The PTI MP, known for his controversies, accused both the US and Saudi Arabia of conspiring to topple the PTI government. The PTI had publicly distanced itself from his remarks, while Mr Marwat had dismissed them as his personal opinion, although he continued to stand by them.

Similarly, Mr Marwat had lashed out at party bigwigs for depriving him of the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, claiming that Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz was the person who informed Imran Khan that the Saudi ambassador had expressed reservations about his nomination to the top parliamentary committee.

Published in Dawn, July 12, 2024