ISLAMABAD: Seven senators belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) resigned from their respective Senate standing committees on Thursday, declaring that their move was in compliance with the instructions of incarcerated party founder Imran Khan.
Those who stepped down include Dost Muhammad, Zeeshan Khanzada, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Falak Naz, and Aon Abbas Buppi.
The development comes two weeks after PTI claimed that around 30 of its lawmakers had resigned from parliamentary committees. However, the National Assembly Secretariat only confirmed receipt of 20 resignations at the time.
In their letters, the senators described their decision as voluntary but necessary in light of what they termed the “systematic dismantling” of democratic institutions and norms.
Swati, who resigned from five committees including Law and Justice, Economic Affairs, and Health Services, wrote that he could no longer serve on bodies designed to safeguard rights while the state itself was violating them. He cited the disqualification of PTI lawmakers and removal of the party’s symbol as examples of institutional bias, calling the resignations an “act of protest” as well as loyalty to Imran Khan’s leadership.
Dost Muhammad, Zeeshan Khanzada, and others echoed the sentiment, saying that denial of justice and narrowing space for dissent compelled them to withdraw. Senator Mohmand, stepping down from committees on Human Rights and IT, lamented that lawful avenues for redress had been blocked.
The resignations come against the backdrop of widespread disqualifications of PTI lawmakers by the Election Commission of Pakistan following convictions linked to the May 9, 2023 protests. Imran Khan himself remains in Adiala Jail since August 2023, serving a sentence in a £190 million corruption case while also facing terrorism-related trials.
With PTI lawmakers also resigning from National Assembly committees last month, today’s move deepens the party’s boycott of parliamentary forums, leaving a vacuum in legislative oversight and raising questions about institutional checks and balances.
