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| (Clockwise from top left) PTI senators Fouzia Arshad, Falak Naz, Azam Khan Swati, Dost Muhammad, Zeeshan Khanzada and Humayun Mohmand. — Senate website/File |
PTI senators resign from parliamentary committees on Khan’s order
Following the
directives of incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan,
several senators from the former ruling party stepped down from their
respective Senate standing committees on Thursday.
Those who resigned include Fouzia Arshad, Falak Naz, Aon Abbas Buppi,
Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Dost Muhammad, Zeeshan Khanzada, Azam Khan Swati, Ali
Zafar, and PTI-backed Mirza Muhammad Afridi.
The coordinated move is part of PTI’s broader political strategy, which
also involves boycotting the upcoming by-elections. Just last month, the
party’s lawmakers had withdrawn from National Assembly standing committees on
Khan’s instructions.
Among the resignations, Azam Khan Swati relinquished
his roles in the committees on cabinet secretariat, economic affairs, law and
justice, national health services, regulation and coordination, and rules of
procedure and privileges.
Dost Muhammad resigned from the committees on
government assurances, human rights, national food security and research,
poverty alleviation and social safety, as well as railways.
Zeeshan Khanzada stepped down from the committees on
overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, foreign affairs, finance,
commerce, and privatisation.
Mirza Muhammad Afridi tendered his resignation from
the committees on commerce, federal education and professional training,
inter-provincial coordination, industries and production, and power.
Aon Abbas Buppi resigned from committees on
industries and production, poverty alleviation and social safety, religious
affairs and interfaith harmony, defence production, and information and
broadcasting.
Mohammad Humayun Mohmand quit the committees on
parliamentary affairs, human rights, national health services and regulation,
water resources, and information technology and telecommunication.
Falak Naz withdrew from the committees on federal
education and professional training, economic affairs, climate change, and
problems of less developed areas.
Ali Zafar resigned from the committee on information
and broadcasting along with several others.
This wave of resignations mirrors PTI’s earlier
decision in the National Assembly, where at least 18 lawmakers, including
Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, vacated their committee positions last month. At that
time, Gohar had also stepped down from four key committees: Law and Justice,
Human Rights, Information Technology, and the House Business Advisory
Committee.