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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has reconstituted its political committee, announcing a new 23-member body that will now function as the party's top decision-making forum, Geo News reported.
The revamped committee also includes representatives from the Tehreek Tahaffuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP). According to a notification signed by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi, the new committee takes effect immediately. The party has significantly downsized the body from the previous political committee, which had around 40 members. Unlike its predecessor, the newly formed committee has been designated as the apex authority for all decisions and functions of the party, its affiliated wings, and other internal committees, according to Geo News. The committee will also be responsible for framing policies to be followed by PTI's parliamentary parties in the National Assembly, the Senate and all provincial assemblies, including those in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The 23-member political committee includes PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mahmood Khan Achakzai. Other members named in the committee are Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Moeen Qureshi, Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, Sajjad Burki, Aliya Hamza, Junaid Akbar, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Dawood Kakar, Khalid Khursheed, Sardar Qayyum Niazi, Asad Qaiser, Amir Dogar, Fawzia Arshad, Kanwal Shauzab and Lal Chand Malhi, as per Geo News. Meanwhile, PTI's former information secretary and founding member, Akbar S Babar, strongly criticised the formation of the new political committee, calling it "unconstitutional, illegal, and a blatant violation" of a Supreme Court of Pakistan ruling. Further, Babar cited a verdict from a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, which he said clearly ruled that a convicted individual cannot participate in politics, directly or indirectly, and that any such participation violates the Constitution. He argued that the notification itself states that the new political committee was formed on the instructions of PTI's founding chairman, who has been convicted by a court. Babar further claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has already communicated in writing that no PTI office or organisation currently holds legal status. "In these circumstances, the illegal use of the party's resources, including offices and letterheads, should be stopped immediately," he said. Babar added that he has written to the Election Commission requesting that PTI resources be barred and the party's bank accounts frozen until lawful internal elections are held. "We hope that the ECP will take notice of this latest violation of the Constitution and take decisive action on our request," he said. (ANI)
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