Several PTI senators have resigned from their respective senate standing committees on Thursday, saying that they had made the move in line with the instructions of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.

So far, seven senators have quit the Senate standing committees, including Dost Muhammad, Zeeshan Khanzada, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Mohammad Humayun Mohmand, Falak Naz and Aon Abbas Buppi.

The development comes two weeks after the PTI claimed some 30 of its lawmakers resigned from the membership of parliamentary committees, although the National Assembly Secretariat only confirmed the receipt of 20 resignations.

The resignation letters of all seven senators, seen by Dawn.com, stated that the decision was made “voluntarily” upon the orders of Imran.

They resigned from all their respective standing committees, decrying Imran’s incarceration as well as the “disintegration of democratic norms” in the wake of the recent disqualification of PTI lawmakers.

Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023.

“I can no longer in good conscience serve on Senate committees when the state is the foremost violator of the very rights and protections these committees are meant to safeguard,” Swati wrote in his letter.

Citing the recent disqualification of PTI lawmakers, he stated that the authorities were “systematically dismantling” the foundations of democracy, the judiciary, and basic rights of citizens.

He pointed out that the “breakdown began with a deeply flawed judgment authored by Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” stripping PTI of its symbol — the bat, followed by the “abuse of Form-47” during the 2024 general elections.

“This resignation is an act of protest not just on behalf of my party, but to faithfully follow the decision of my party leader Imran Khan, the Law of this great country and the Constitution of Pakistan, which today stands orphaned, dishonoured, and ignored.”

Swati urged parliamentarians, jurists, and citizens to speak up “before the space for dissent is completely extinguished.”

Meanwhile, both Senator Khanzada and Dost Muhammad stated in their letters: “The deliberate denial of Justice has compelled both him and myself to take this step as an expression of protest.”

Buppi, Afridi, Mohmand, and Falak Naz, in their letters, said that they were also resigning following the directions of Imran Khan.

Mohmand, in his statement, criticised the state, saying that “the lawful avenue through which we can register [our] complaint has been blocked,” citing the 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The senators resigned from the following committees:

• Swati — cabinet secretariat, economic affairs, law and justice, national health services, regulation and coordination, and rules of procedure and privileges.
• Dost Muhammad — government assurances, human rights, national food security & research, poverty alleviation and social safety, and railways.
• Khanzada — Overseas Pakistanis & human resource department, foreign affairs, finance, commerce, and privatisation.
• Afridi — commerce, federal education and professional training, inter-provincial coordination, industrial and production, and power.
• Buppi — Industries & production, poverty alleviation & social safety, religious affairs and interfaith harmony, defence production, and information and broadcasting.
• Mohmand — parliamentary affairs, human rights, national health services and regulation, water resources, information technology and telecommunication.
• Falak Naz — federal education & professional training, economic affairs, climate change, and problems of less developed areas.

Last month, PTI lawmakers resigned from membership and chairmanship of all standing committees in the National Assembly as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in July and August disqualified a large number of PTI members and leaders in relation to their involvement in the May 9, 2023, riots against Imran’s arrest, sparking protests in the NA.