Meraj Humayun says she is still in PTI

PESHAWAR: Meraj Humayun Khan, a Member of Provincial Assembly, has said she isn’t stranded in the political wilderness as she is still a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) because the party’s inquiry committee has yet to pass a final judgement in her case.

In a rejoinder to an article titled “The unique case of lawmaker Meraj Humayun” published in The News, she maintained that she was very clear about leaving Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) for reasons which she didn’t have to explain. “I hope to clear the misunderstandings that have cropped up with PTI leadership as they have accepted my response to the show-cause notice and did not include my name among the 14 members who were expelled,” she added.

Meraj Humayun admitted that she is responding to show-cause notices issued to her by two political parties.

It may be mentioned that she was served show-cause notice by her previous party, QWP, and also her new party, PTI, for failing to vote for the party candidates in the Senate election in March. It was unique for a lawmaker to be issued show-case notice by two parties after being accused of selling her vote in the Senate polls.

Meraj Humayun said she had applied for the PTI ticket for contesting the election for reserved seat for women, but didn’t have high hopes of getting the ticket because the competition for the party ticket was tough.

“In case the Investigation Committee passes a judgement against me then it would be time to consider other options available to me which also includes contesting as an independent candidate,” she argued.

Meraj Humayun, who served as chairperson of the Women Parliamentary Caucus in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, recalled that she joined the QWP in January 2010 and was elected an MPA on its ticket in 2013 on a women reserved seat. “Earlier I had joined PTI in August 1996 and was its first Women Wing President. I quit politics in October 1997 to manage my NGO and my schools,” she added.

According to Meraj Humayun, she attended the jirga called by her relative Shah Nawaz Khan, an aspirant in the election to NA-18 Swabi constituency, for consultation whether he should remain in the ANP or contest the polls as an independent candidate. “As a political leader of the district I meet other leaders socially as well as politically every now and then but that does not mean I belong to those groups,” she clarified.

Meraj Humayun said she had rich experience as a development and management professional having work with both public and private sector organizations and pioneered home-based schools for girls, rehabilitation of street children and vocational training for women.