Termination of Sher Afzal Marwat’s membership lays bare fissures in PTI

.ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday canceled Sher Afzal Marwat’s basic party membership for suspected serious violations of party discipline, according to Dunya News.

According to the announcement sent by PTI’s Additional Secretary General Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Marwat’s breach of party discipline was the basis for his firing.

It is worth noting that a four-member inquiry committee was constituted to investigate Marwat’s breach of party discipline and contentious utterances.

Marwat received a show-cause notice last month for violating party rules and making contentious statements. However, the inquiry committee judged Marwat’s response unacceptable.

Barrister Gohar’s Response

The position of Marwat is unclear, as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar stated in response to the development that he was unaware of Marwat’s party membership being cancelled.

“I will meet the founder of PTI and discuss the situation with him,” Gohar told reporters.

Gohar stated that he did not know who had issued instructions or who was making decisions.

“It has been brought to my knowledge that the PTI founder has not issued such instructions,” Gohar said.

He stated that Sher Afzal Marwat’s membership had been canceled without any committee calling him for a response.

“I’ll meet with Imran Khan today to reverse this notification. Sher Afzal Marwat is a member of our party and supports Imran Khan,” Gohar stated.

SHOW-CAUSE NOTICE:

Previously, the PTI suspended Marwat’s membership due to an alleged violation of party discipline. The notification, issued by PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub, noted Marwat’s violation of party discipline.

According to PTI sources, an inquiry committee was created to look into the charges. The committee included Raoof Hassan, retired Brig Musaddiq Abbasi, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, and Dawood Khan Kakar.

In May, the party sent a show-cause notice on Marwat, a budding political star whose meteoric rise appeared to be short-lived, days after he openly challenged other leaders.

The letter issued by Omar Ayub, the opposition leader in the National Assembly, particularly cited a violation of party policy and the code of conduct.

The first complaint said that Marwat made imprudent utterances that “harmed the party’s reputation and interests” despite receiving clear instructions from the PTI’s founding chairman not to violate the party’s “known and stated position”.

At the same time, Marwat, who was elected to the National Assembly from NA-41, a constituency that includes the Lakki Marwat area in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was accused of undermining relations with other party members and stakeholders through his actions and statements.

The delivery of a show-cause notice was not surprising given that Ayub declared that Marwat was removed from the PTI’s core and political committees at the party founder’s request following his recent statements criticizing Saudi Arabia.

Previously, the disgruntled PTI leader lashed out at senior party leaders for depriving him of the chairmanship of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, claiming that Senator Shibli Faraz was the one to inform the party founder about the Saudi ambassador’s reservations about his nomination.

He had earlier accused Saudi Arabia of arranging the demise of the PTI government in 2022 via a no-confidence vote.