Imran gives important position to Hamid after disagreement with Fawad

• PTI forms advisory council to advise party chairman, Imran Khan.
• Imran appoints Hamid Khan as head of party's advisory council.
• Appointment comes after Hamid disagreed with Fawad's strategy.

KARACHI: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday gave an important post in the party to founding member and law expert Hamid Khan days after Khan openly announced having disagreements with several serving and former members, including Fawad Chaudhry.

The PTI made an announcement via a statement, saying chairman Imran has set up an advisory council of the party, which would be headed by Hamid — who was also the former prime minister's lawyer in a recent case.

It further said the 10-member advisory council would include Rauf Hassan, Najeeb Haroon, Arshad Dad, Jamal Ansari, Khalid Masood, Saleem Jan, Yaqoob Izhar, Tasneem Noorani and Bakhtiar Kasuri.

The advisory council will present its views and recommendations to the party chairman on important national issues, the statement added.

Fawad wanted Imran indicted: Hamid

Talking to Geo News last week, Hamid had said the purpose of inflammatory statements by party leader Fawad and others was to see the former prime minister indicted and sentenced.

Imran’s counsel in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) contempt case, Hamid, said Fawad attacked the high court and its chief justice, Athar Minallah, with aggressive statements on the very day of hearing of the contempt of court case.

He said that when the Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali showed the court a copy of The News carrying a statement of Fawad, he (Hamid) told the court that it had nothing to do with Imran.

The chairman was right in saying that some people in his party had links with the establishment, Hamid added.

“Fawad Chaudhry and likes of him want to damage the party, and they are doing all that to please their masters,” alleged Hamid, adding they had joined the party with a task and were unhappy that the longstanding members of the party were wisely advising Imran.

Hamid was referring to a case where Imran was facing contempt of court charges for his controversial remarks about Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry during a rally in Islamabad on August 20.

'Unnecessary interference'

During an interview on the eve of IHC's hearing in the contempt case, Fawad criticised Hamid, saying that Imran wasn't being allowed to speak and his lawyer or other people spoke on his behalf, creating "unnecessary interference".

"This is a matter between the court and the [petitioner]. But they are not listening to Imran Khan as [his] lawyers start speaking for him, what do they know," he said.

Trivialising Hamid's role as a lawyer, Imran said that he had time and again suggested that the PTI chairman's lawyer should not speak on his behalf and that the ex-prime minister should be talking to the court during hearings.