The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has formally resigned from all Senate standing committees, intensifying its political disengagement from the parliamentary process in protest against what it describes as an ‘engineered system’.
PTI’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, Barrister Ali Zafar, submitted the resignations of party senators to the Senate Secretariat on Tuesday.
Speaking outside the Parliament House, he stated that the move was part of a unanimous party decision. “We’ve decided to withdraw from all Senate committees. Today, I’ve submitted our senators’ resignations as per our collective decision,” he said.
The decision follows an earlier directive of PTI founder Imran Khan, who reportedly instructed party-backed lawmakers to vacate committee positions in both Houses of the Parliament. Last week, PTI senators began individually resigning from their committee assignments.
Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi stepped down from five prominent committees — Commerce, Industries and Production, Education, Energy, and Inter-Provincial Coordination. Senator Azam Swati followed suit and resigned from committees on Cabinet, Economic Affairs, Health, Law and Justice, and Rules and Procedure.
The party had already begun quitting National Assembly committees last month, citing similar concerns.