Sher Afzal Marwat unleashes furious attack on Salman Akram Raja

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sher Afzal Marwat hit back at lawyer Salman Akram Raja in retaliation on Thursday, declaring his appointment as party secretary general was not in accordance with the party constitution.

Appearing on the ARY News programme Khabar, PTI firebrand Sher Afzal Marwat stated that, according to the party constitution, Salman Akram Raja cannot become the party's secretary general. “Only the elected person who has contested an intra-party election is eligible for the position of party secretary-general,” he explained.

He went on to say that Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and Firdous Shamim Naqvi are public officeholders. “Salman Akram Raja is a stranger [to the party],” he added.

Earlier, lawyer Salman Akram Raja, while speaking on the ARY News programme Off The Record on the same day, downplayed Marwat’s claims, which he recently linked to party founder Imran Khan, saying, “Only two or four party members are deemed capable of having the right to speak about the party.

“Marwat statement has nothing to do with the party's official narrative. His [Marwat] statements are unimportant,” Raja said.

Following statements from Raja, who questioned Marwat's understanding of the party’s policy matters, Marwat assailed him.

The PTI senior leader accused Raja of terminating him in the middle of the Iddat case when Raja was representing former premier Imran Khan. Raja then took over the case himself.

“I will give him a befitting reply if he speaks against me again,” Marwat said.

When asked whether PTI founder Imran Khan is aware of Marwat’s claims about Salman Akram Raja’s unconstitutional appointment as party secretary general, Marwat said, “I will meet Khan Sahib tomorrow and inform him about Salman Akram Raja’s appointment. I am sure Khan Sahib will not tolerate any violation of the party constitution.”

The PTI firebrand also alleged that YouTuber Adil Raja is an Indian intelligence agent and questioned, “Why do they [pseudo-PTI social media activists] expect me to defend them on TV when they regularly abuse me on social media?”

“How can he — who was Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer in the Panama case, Khawaja Asif [now Defence Minister], and PML-N’s Nausheen Iftikhar against PTI’s candidate Asjad Malhi — taunt me?” he mocked.