ISLAMABAD: PTI leaders who are holding official positions in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will have to relinquish their party positions in a bid to reorganise the party in the province.

The decision was anno­u­nced by the PTI secretary general, Salman Akram Raja, on Tuesday after meeting the jailed PTI founder Imran Khan.

While talking to reporters outside the Adiala Jail, Mr Raja said the decision has been made to empower PTI’s KP chapter president, Junaid Akbar, to reorganise the party.

Last month, Mr Akbar was made the party’s president in KP in place of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who had “relinquished” the position.

Replying to a question, he said that Mr Khan clearly stated that he would stand by party leaders and that those expelled from the party had nothing to do with PTI.

This was an apparent reference to Sher Afzal Mar­wat and Fawad Chau­dhry, who were sacked from the party.

Mr Raja added that those who were not in contact with the party leadership during the voting on the 26th Constitutional Amendment in parliament would be given a personal hearing.

The PTI leader said he briefed Mr Khan on the party leaders’ recent visit to Sindh.

Mr Khan has vowed to “keep fighting for the rights of the people of Sindh”, Mr Raja claimed.

Mr Raja added that the PTI founder was being denied his rights in jail and revealed that he would write a letter to the chief justice of Pakistan on Mr Khan’s behalf.

Defeat against India

Although the party claims that the PTI founder does not have the facility of electricity in his cell, Mr Raja said the former prime minister and ex-captain of the cricket team was “very sad over the defeat” against India in the Champions Trophy.

Mr Khan’s sister, Aleema, said her brother watched the match on PTV and was “severely disappointed”.

‘Maryam being nurtured’

Separately, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram has criticised the government’s borrowing to manage its expenses.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Akram said the government was “wasting public resources”.

He alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is being “nurtured, trained and groomed” and will be “imposed on the nation”.

This would “further drive the country towards political, economic and social instability”.

“Pakistan has already paid a hefty price for such experiments in the past, and the people will not allow any such experiment to succeed now,” Mr Akram claimed.

“PTI founder Imran Khan has awakened the nation, and conscious people cannot be silenced through intimidation, coercion or oppressive tactics.”

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2025