ISLAMABAD: The political committee of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday replaced Sher Afzal Marwat with Sheikh Waqas Akram for the coveted slot of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairmanship.

Following the development, Marwat and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chief Hamid Raza are no longer in contention for PAC chairmanship.

PTI founder Imran Khan had earlier nominated Marwat for the post. The ex-premier later nominated Hamid Raza for PAC chairmanship after party leadership criticized Marwat’s nomination.

Last week, PTI Secretary General and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, advocated for Marwat’s appointment, citing his endorsement by the party’s founder.

Asad Qaiser, Waqas Akram, Junaid Akbar, and Zain Qureshi were among the ones to oppose Marwat’s nomination and were lobbying for the PAC chairmanship.

Besides, other senior leadership of the party also opposed Imran’s decision.

The sources within the party said that PTI’s political committee discussed the nomination for the coveted slot of PAC chairman.

Nine of the 19-member committee headed by Omar Ayub voted for Shaikh Waqas Akram, and seven for Marwat.

Marwat termed the move against him a conspiracy by the “PTI establishment” and deemed his popularity as the reason.

In a post on X, he said that “neither Imran Khan had referred the matter to the political committee nor issued any directive to the political committee for a voting on the matter.”

“Imran Khan has not changed his decision [to appoint him as PAC chairman] still. I’ll meet him tomorrow and will inform him about the “fraud” being done using his name,” he warned.

He said that he was also kept in dark about the meeting and its agenda, adding “PTI is a political party and not a rajwada [and] I’ll not let it be hijacked,” he declared.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024