ISLAMABAD: Following a meeting between the top leadership of Adiala Jail and the party’s imprisoned founder, Imran Khan, Dawn has learned that the PTI has suspended the membership of Sher Afzal Marwat, a fiery party leader who was elected to the National Assembly in the polls held on February 8.
According to sources, Imran Khan met with PTI leaders on Thursday, during which a decision about Mr. Marwat was made. The party sources continued, “A formal statement would be issued on Friday (today) in this regard.”
They said that Mr. Marwat had been consistently breaking party rules and that, during the previous month, he had made a number of statements criticizing the party officials, including one in which he was accused of making “derogatory remarks” about the party founder. They said, “It was decided at the meeting with Imran Khan that no leader is above the party and that all other leaders would suffer the same consequences if they crossed the party line.”
Noteworthy is the removal of MNA Sher Afzal Marwat from the PTI core and political committees in May, which Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan ordered on Imran Khan’s orders following his contentious remarks on Saudi Arabia’s purported role in Imran Khan’s overthrow in April 2022. The combined opposition alliance passed a resolution of no confidence that forced Imran Khan out of his position as prime minister.
Known for igniting debates, the PTI MNA declared that Saudi Arabia and the United States were working together to overthrow the PTI government. Mr. Marwat continued to stand by his views, which the PTI had officially distanced itself from. He had written them off as his personal viewpoint.
In a similar vein, Mr. Marwat had also taken aim at the party’s leaders for allegedly denying him the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee. He had claimed that Shibli Faraz, the leader of the Senate opposition, had told Imran Khan that the Saudi envoy had expressed doubts about his candidacy to the upper house of parliament.
