PTI UK Secretary-General removed from office, suspended for one year

LONDON: The secretary-general of PTI's UK chapter, Roomi Malik, has been removed from office and suspended from the party for a year after the party's Standing Committee of Accountability and Discipline (SCAD) ruled he had violated party discipline.

The complaint against Malik was that he used offensive, derogatory, and abusive remarks against his fellow colleagues on social media and official PTI groups. The official was also accused of breaching the party's code of conduct when he allegedly went public on an internal matter against a peer at an event in Birmingham earlier this year.

Rowdy scenes were seen as two groups of the party fought door security, women were shuffled around, and members shouted at each other. Both sides had made allegations against each other.

Three weeks ago, the PTI UK official was suspended first for six months over the allegations; however, he has now been removed from his position and suspended from the party for a year as well.

The News has obtained an official letter dated August 17, 2020, from the PTI’s SCAD — headed by Khawaja Mumtaz Ahmad Taj and Barrister Syed Fariqun Hussain Shah.

It states: "In exercise of the powers conferred upon us by Central SCAD via Notification F-5-1/2020 SCAD(Central) (2), SCAD UK have processed the complaint of PTI UK President, Mr. Shirjeel Khan Malik, President PTI London Mrs. Farzana Mukhtar, SVP London Mr. M Kashif Ihsan (The Complainants) against PTI UK General Secretary Mr. Zafar Iqbal Roomi Malik (The Defendant). All party procedures were followed to bring a meaningful and fair conclusion to this matter in consultation with Central SCAD.

"Mr Zafar Iqbal Roomi Malik’s PTI Party Membership is suspended for 12 months. Mr Zafar Iqbal Roomi Malik is suspended from the position of PTI UK General Secretary.”

The letter says the decision of secretary-general's removal was reached upon "under article XII (5.2) and The Defendant has full rights to appeal against this decision to central SCAD within 7 days".

In its decision, the SCAD wrote: “The complaints submitted against him were an incident that took place on 19.01.2020 at the PTI UK National meeting in Birmingham and behaviour/attitude and language used by the defendant against other colleagues on official Group /Social media, the incident was filmed extensively (via electronic and social media) and The Defendant is seen leading that unfortunate incident which caused great damage and disrepute to the party and was in clear violation of party discipline.

"Organisation of International Chapters demanded an explanation from the Defendant immediately over this incident and forwarded the complaint to SCAD upon unsatisfactory response.”

Malik, on the other hand, claimed that he was neither provided with any evidence of his suspension nor sent a suspension notice.

He told The News that he would appeal this decision.

"Ladies are not comfortable under Shirjeel Khan Malik's presidency so six ladies have resigned from their positions and some have withdrawn their membership in protest,” he said in the aftermath of his suspension.

After Malik's suspension, PTI UK Additional Secretary-General Mohammad Shahbaz Mukhtar resigned from his post, citing “exploitation” and “injustice” against the PTI members through the SCAD.

Earlier, Shirjeel Malik, the PTI UK president, had warned party members that strict disciplinary action would be taken against anyone who discussed internal squabbles publicly.

He strongly denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that the SCAD looked at the evidence and made an independent decision.

Earlier, Akram Dhareeja, a founding member of the PTI UK, had held the suspension as unconstitutional and argued that it was actually a fight between Roomi Malik and Shirjeel Malik.

In this regard, PTI UK Information Secretary Taqveem Ahsan Siddiqui said: “According to the decision on review appeal, Mr Roomi Malik failed to satisfy the SCAD in regards to his irresponsible behaviour in public that brought disrepute to the party.

"Separate disciplinary proceedings are underway against those few members who ran a social media campaign to influence SCAD," Siddiqui added.

"There was a counter-complaint against President PTI UK Shirjeel Malik, for which the SCAD has found no evidence in support and all allegations by the same individuals on Shirjeel Malik have been unfounded.

"He is, therefore, cleared by the SCAD from all allegations with a reminder to uphold party constitution and reputation and avoid any such incidents in future,“ the PTI UK information secretary said.