PTI’s Marwat, Salman Raja have a heated exchange

ISLAMABAD: An exchange of ‘hot words’ took place between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja and senior party leader Sher Afzal Marwat on Thursday. 

Marwat reportedly took to his social media account in reply to Salman Raja’s statement earlier in the day and wrote that he was always ready to work with him (Salman Raja).

“You are neither my boss nor have the authority to control me, my bosses are the founder PTI and Barrister Gohar. Yes, I am accountable to them,” he contended. To a question about the recent statements of Marwat, Salman Raja said during his news conference in Lahore that the MNA must control himself if he wants to play any role in the party. “So we are giving him a chance but if he does not show discipline, then we will take action against him,” the PTI secretary general warned.

His warning comes on the heels of Marwat’s meeting with PTI founder chairman Imran Khan following which he talked to the media and said he had informed Imran that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s protest strategy was not right.

Before that the firebrand party member, during his speech in Peshawar, severely criticised the KP government and said that some provincial ministers had joined the government only to enjoy the ministership.

Though he was not available for comment on Salman Raja’s statement, Marwat’s media coordinator Haider Khan clarified that no reactionary statement was issued by the PTI senior leader. “What is being attributed to him in some media circles is fake,” he claimed.

The PTI had sealed Marwat’s fate in August this year and cancelled his basic party membership over ‘gross breach/violation of discipline’. Marwat was made senior vice-president of the party following his violent showdown with a PMLN senator a few months back and then he was made in-charge of the party’s proposed public meeting in Islamabad.

But he soon lost Imran’s confidence and was served a show-cause notice and his membership of two key party positions was cancelled over his ‘highly offensive and damaging’ statements, which had extremely displeased the party founder and were seen as hurting his ties with Saudi Arabia.

On the basis of findings of the disciplinary committee and his latest statements and complaints received, it was recommended that Marwat’s party membership should be cancelled and the same had been approved by the founder chairman Imran Khan.

The committee even said if Marwat was an honourable person, he should leave the National Assembly seat which he won as a PTI nominated candidate and seek re-election. However, to the surprise and disbelief of many, after a few weeks, following the cancellation of his basic membership, Marwat managed to meet Imran, who ‘pardoned’ him, undoing all the due process carried out in line with the party constitution.