• Core committee meeting ends after two days without adopting any recommendations
• Participants demand removal of NA opposition leader, dissolution of political committee, changes in decision-making procedures
• Gohar says Achakzai will remain, opposes calls to form fact-finding committee
ISLAMABAD: The PTI core committee met for eight hours over the past two days but failed to decide on a future course of action, as several recommendations, including the formation of a fact-finding committee, put forward by the committee members could not be adopted due to the top leadership’s refusal to hold a vote.
A participant told Dawn that the huddle discussed why the protest march led by non-functional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi failed, the role of Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and the party’s decision-making process.
According to the PTI leader, during the discussion, it was claimed that there was a large number of workers in Charsadda, but that the number decreased in Mardan and there were no arrangements in Swabi.
Some participants alleged that Sohail Afridi was responsible for the failure, but others questioned the role of the PTI core and political committees and said why the core committee took seven days to call its meeting.
Some members said the party was not functioning as per its charter and a ‘supra committee’ of five members had been taking all decisions and suggested the dissolution of the political committee.
One of the members said Imran Khan had set up a 14-member apex committee as well as the core committee. The apex committee was later turned into the political committee and many more members were added before it was dissolved and a new one was formed, while the core committee’s meetings were eventually discontinued. Against this backdrop, the members suggested moving away from individualised decision-making in favour of collective decision-making.
“It was also suggested to establish a fact-finding committee, but Barrister Gohar said that they should not wash their dirty linen in public,” Dawn was informed.
“Azam Swati suggested holding the new party election and vacating the stay order but Barrister Gohar said that soon three years will have passed and after that new elections will be held,” a member told Dawn.
The participant told Dawn that members had shown concerns about why TTAP was being allowed to open party offices at district level and asked if PTI will contest the next election under the banner of TTAP, but Barrister Gohar denied any such development.
It was also suggested to reconstitute the negotiation committee and include political personalities, including PTI senators, in it.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan later told reporters that Mr Achakzai will remain the undisputed leader of the opposition as he was appointed by Imran Khan. “We have no right to disagree with any decision of Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas. So their decisions will be implemented and they will negotiate on behalf of PTI,” he said.
Meeting with Imran
According to details, Mashal Yousafzai said that Barrister Saif from KP be appointed as focal person for meetings with Imran Khan in Adiala jail, believing that Mr Saif was capable of the job. Others, however, believed former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry could be a better option in that case. Some participants claimed that they might not be able to access Imran Khan because Senate elections were due in February next year and the authorities would not allow them to meet Mr Khan before the polls.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, told Dawn that he can only say that during the meeting, detailed discussions were held. “The discussion will be helpful in collective decision-making for the future and it will also be helpful for policy-making,” he said.
To a question, Mr Akram said it was possible that a third meeting would be held to decide the way forward. But there was no information about the next date so far.
In a statement after the meeting, the PTI expressed concerns about the crackdown on the party and vowed to challenge it at all forums. The statement also demanded protection for the mines and minerals of the province.
Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2026