ISLAMABAD: With uncertainty surrounding the status of his PTI membership, Sher Afzal Marwat has been stopped by the party chairman from resigning from the National Assembly, party sources say.

The move is indicative of PTI’s desperation to hold on to its lawmakers in the lower house, as the number of members would be pivotal for the award of reserved seats.

According to PTI sources, Mr Marwat offered to resign from his NA seat and get re-elected as an independent candidate. However, Gohar Ali Khan said he would meet Imran Khan before accepting the resignation, as per PTI sources.

On Friday, PTI’s additional secretary general, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, issued the notification of Mr Marwat’s expulsion over “gross violation and breach of discipline”.

Sources in the party claimed the notification was “fake”, but Mr Naqvi later clarified that the notification was genuine and issued with the approval of the PTI founder.

Sources say Gohar wants to meet Imran before accepting the resignation

According to party sources, during their last meeting in Adiala Jail, Mr Khan expressed his annoyance over the delay in expelling Mr Marwat and asked the party’s secretary general, Omar Ayub, about it.

Party sources said that a four-member committee, comprising Mr Naqvi, Atif Khan, Daud Kakar and Raoof Hasan, was investigating Mr Marwat’s breach of party discipline.

After Mr Hasan was arrested last month, the other three members continued the investigation.

“The committee also monitored Mr Marwat’s latest statements on social media and one main stream media [channel],” a source added.

The source claimed that Mr Marwat “again crossed the red line” even after he was issued a cause notice. “So it was decided to expel him from the party.”

After Mr Marwat’s expulsion from PTI was notified, he contacted the party chairman, Barrister Gohar, and offered to resign as an MNA, but he was stopped from doing so.

“[The] fact is that the party is not in a position to lose MNAs as they will be counted for the nomination of reserved seats,” the source said.

While talking to Dawn, Advocate Shoaib Shaheen said there was no chance for Mr Marwat to rejoin the party as the notification of his expulsion had already been issued.

He said there were reports of Mr Marwat trying to meet the PTI founder in jail and claimed some PTI were trying to keep him in the party.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2024