Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Junaid Akbar has resigned from the post of Chairman Public Accounts Committee, Junaid Akbar confirmed that he has handed over his resignation to Chairman PTI Barrister Gauhar.
Junaid Akbar has clarified that this position was a trust of the party, he submitted his resignation on the instructions of the party leadership.
According to a report published in Dawn newspaper, PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, taking another U-turn, had directed PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Junaid Akbar to resign from the post of Chairman Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and focus on provincial affairs.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed this development in a conversation with Dawn. He said that Khan Sahib conveyed this message through his sister Aleema Khan in the previous meeting and announced that Umar Ayub Khan would replace Junaid Akbar as the PAC chairman. Later, Aleema Khan, after coming out of Adiala Jail, conveyed this message to Salman Akram Raja.
According to party sources, Junaid Akbar initially asked for two days to resign, but later after meeting Imran Khan, he agreed to resign.
Sources said that the fact is that when Aleema Khan met her brother, the first order from Khan Sahib was to instruct Junaid Akbar to resign and focus on the province, the second order was to nominate Umar Ayub as the PAC chairman.
However, Junaid Akbar, who had earlier claimed that he would resign at any sign from Imran Khan, took the stand that he would resign only after meeting Imran Khan.
Sources said that the fact is that there is a consensus in the party that Aleema Khan never lied, and the messages conveyed by Khan through her have never been proven wrong.
When asked about the reason for his resignation, sources said that Junaid Akbar had stopped paying attention to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even though he is also the provincial president of PTI, he had started calling meetings of the party’s provincial wings at Parliament House or KP House in Islamabad.
Sources said that Imran Khan was aware of this, which is why he decided to remove him from the post of PAC chairman and send him back to work in the province.
Sources further said that PTI had announced to hold ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ rallies across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rallies were held across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but not a single rally was held from Junaid Akbar’s native area of Batkhela.
It is worth mentioning that in January this year, Junaid Akbar was elected unopposed as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. In the same month, Imran Khan appointed him as the President of PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and removed Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur from this position.
After the general elections, PTI took several U-turns on the issue of determining the candidate for the Chairman PAC. Initially, Sher Afzal Marwat was nominated, later the names of Sheikh Waqas Akram and Omar Ayub came to the fore, but finally Junaid Akbar’s name was finalized.
