Imran Khan directs immediate resignations from Punjab Assembly committees: Gohar

• Toshakhana-II trial completed, verdict soon.
• PTI founder in good spirits, says Gohar.
• All cases politically motivated, claims Gohar.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has directed party members to immediately resign from all Punjab Assembly standing committees, Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail alongside Senator Ali Zafar after meeting Khan, Barrister Gohar confirmed that PTI currently controls 14 standing committees in Punjab, adding that the directive for resignation came directly from the party founder.

The move comes as part of the former ruling party’s political strategy, which also includes boycotting upcoming by-elections. Last month, PTI lawmakers resigned from the standing committees of the National Assembly and Senate on Khan’s order.  

Barrister Gohar — while speaking to journalists today — said it was his first meeting with the PTI founder in several days, and that the former premier was in good health and high spirits.

He added that the trial in the Toshakhana Two case has concluded, with final arguments scheduled for October 13 and a verdict expected by Tuesday or Wednesday next week. He termed it the fifth “bogus” case against the party founder, claiming that all cases were politically motivated to keep him imprisoned.

The PTI leader also stated that after the new chief minister assumes office, the PTI founder will finalise cabinet appointments, clarifying that the newly appointed CM was the one nominated by the PTI founder himself.

He urged KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to accept outgoing CM Ali Amin Gandapur’s resignation to ensure a smooth political transition, rejecting reports of any forward bloc within the party.

Gohar said the PTI founder did not consult him on the CM’s replacement, adding that many decisions are taken without wider consultation, but stressed that the change in KP leadership was the founder’s own decision, which the party fully accepts.

The resignation of KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur has turned into a controversy. According to sources at the Chief Minister’s House, Gandapur’s resignation was delivered at the gate of the Governor House last night, and the staff at the CM House acknowledged its receipt.

The sources further said that Governor Karim Kundi is currently in Islamabad, where he met a foreign ambassador and attended a football match between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Governor Kundi, speaking to Geo News, said that he has not yet received the resignation from his principal secretary.

He added that once the resignation is received, he will review it in light of legal and constitutional points before signing it. The governor said that if there is any error in the resignation, it will be returned.

For his part, Senator Zafar said that the PTI founder remarked that the same cabinet would continue for now, with changes to be considered later if needed. He quoted the founder as saying that the chief minister’s change was a constitutional process, warning that any attempt to obstruct it would be met with strong protest.