Gohar denies PTI core and political committees sidelined

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has rejected reports that the party's core committee and political committee have been sidelined in decision-making, saying no meeting was ever held to discuss such a move, ARY News reported.

In a conversation with the channel, Gohar called the reports baseless and misleading. He said the core committee, the political committee and the parliamentary party are separate bodies, and that all party decisions are taken by the core committee and the political committee.

Proposals framed by the two committees are placed before the parliamentary party, he said, where suggestions from members of parliament are also taken into account. He repeated that the committees continue to make all party decisions and rejected the suggestion that they had been excluded from the process.

The remarks were reported as an exclusive conversation with ARY News. Aaj News also carried his comments on the party committees and on the talks.

According to ARY News, Gohar earlier told reporters outside Parliament House that party founder Imran Khan had authorised Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas to hold talks. He said the discussions had covered the situation arising from the imposition of Governor's Rule and emergency measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and that there was no bitterness or tension in them.

He said the matter should be resolved once and for all and called for Parliament to be strengthened.

Gohar alleged that a group was trying to create a rift between PTI and a major state institution, and acknowledged the sacrifices of the Pakistan Army.

Referring to the political situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said that taking away the chief minister of a smaller province would not improve the situation.

He also said the party's long march should conclude, after which, he said, meetings with Bushra Bibi should be allowed and the sisters of the PTI founder should be released.

The reports did not carry any response from the federal government, the National Assembly secretariat or the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration, and none of the claims made by the PTI chairman could be independently verified.