PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Thursday that party founder Imran Khan has ordered the party’s lawmakers to resign from the chairmanships and memberships of standing committees in the Punjab Assembly.

In August, Imran had said the party should not go into by-elections triggered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualifying a large number of PTI members and leaders in relation to their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots and that its lawmakers should leave all parliamentary standing committees, including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

PTI lawmakers subsequently began resigning from the membership of parliamentary committees and also Senate standing committees. Whether Punjab lawmakers would do so was not decided at the time.

However, speaking to the media today outside Adiala Jail after meeting Imran, Barrister Gohar said: “Khan has issued a direction regarding Punjab. We have 107 MPAs in Punjab and we have around 14 standing committees. Khan has also issued the directive for Punjab that our party members will resign from the memberships and chairmanships of standing committees, the way we have in the National Assembly and Senate.”

Questioned about speculation of him being removed as the party chairman a day after Ali Amin Gandapur was told to step down as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Gohar rubbished the entire matter as “just rumours” and said the party was stable with no issue over the chairmanship.

“There is no issue of my chairmanship.’’

On developments about the KP chief minister’s position, Gohar said Imran praised Gandapur as ’’one of my few loyal allies“ and that he was a strong party member but the PTI founder had a strong stance regarding terrorism that any operation against it without a political strategy would fail.

“Whatever operation you carry out, any collateral damage in it further radicalises people. That is why, Khan said that our party, government and province cannot afford this so we were wanting some drasitc change.”

He said Imran wished for the transition in the KP government to be completed as quickly as possible, adding that the cabinet would continue but the party founder would finalise the names once the new government was formed.