Dr Sania Nishtar, elected as a senator in 2021 on a PTI ticket, recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a picture of her shaking hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, thanking him for co-hosting the launch of her organisation Gavi’s investment event.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is an international organisation created in 2000 to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Sania Nishtar was appointed its CEO in 2024.

The mission statement on its official website reads, “AS PART OF ITS MISSION TO SAVE LIVES AND PROTECT PEOPLE’S HEALTH BY INCREASING EQUITABLE AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF VACCINES, GAVI HAS HELPED VACCINATE MORE THAN 1 BILLION CHILDREN IN 78 LOWER-INCOME COUNTRIES, PREVENTING MORE THAN 17.3 MILLION FUTURE DEATHS.”

However, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Anny Marri quoted her tweet with strong criticism that Nishtar is a serving senator while also serving the interests of her own company.

She wrote, “Pakistan’s senator so diligently serving Gavi’s interests as their CEO! Guess serving an international pay master while being a member of Pakistan’s upper house seems just fine to her. But maybe she can sometimes deign to attend the Senate from where she gets paid every month?!”

Furthermore, an X user asked Marri whether Nishtar had resigned, to which the PPP senator replied, “No, no. Not only did she not resign, she’s getting paid by Senate every month. To be free of the burden of conscience – must be a great feeling. Seems these guys have a monopoly over it.”