‘No shake-up in PTI committee structure’

• Spox rejects reports about core committee being ‘sidelined’ • ‘Strengthening’ of parliamentary body suggested, but not decided, says Panjutha ISLAMABAD: Amid a deluge of reports suggesting a change in the party’s decision-making structure, the PTI on Sunday rejected the notion that its core committee had been ‘sidelined’, or its powers re-designated to another body. Sheikh Waqas Akram, the party’s central information secretary, said the core committee, the political com­mittee and the parliamentary party were separate forums, each with their own, distinct responsibilities. Organisational and political decisions fell within the remit of the core and political committees, while the parliamentary party dealt with legislative and parliamentary issues.

He said the parliamentary party’s recommendations were given due consideration and could be referred to the relevant committees, adding that final authority over all decisions rested with PTI founder Imran Khan, who had delegated powers to the committees. PTI leader Naeem Haider Panjutha told Dawn that during a meeting, Bar­rister Ali Zafar had suggested stren­gthening the parliamentary committee, but it was just a recommendation and no such decision was made. “Imran Khan had entrusted the political committee with the authority to make decisions, while directing that the core committee should also be… taken into confidence before decisions were finalised. The core committee had a large membership, which made decision-making difficult. That was one of the reasons for forming the political committee — to facilitate decisions and reduce the chances of discussions being leaked,” he said. He said that there was also a proposal to include heads of the party’s organisational bodies in the political committee. “Subsequently, the…