Arshad Dad appointed as PTI secretary general

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Monday announced that additional secretary general Arshad Dad has been elevated to the post of secretary general.

Dad, a member of the party since 1996, was made the additional secretary general in May.

An engineer by profession, Dad graduated from Lahore's University of Engineering and Technology in 1971 and spent nine years working for the Pakistan Television Network.

The secretary general post had remained vacant after Jahangir Tareen resigned in December 2017 following his disqualification under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution by the Supreme Court for misdeclaration of assets.

Later, in a landmark judgement announced in April 2018, the apex court had ruled that a disqualification handed down under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution is for life, which had rendered Tareen ineligible to hold a public office for life.

At the time, Tareen had argued that the SC’s ruling on lifetime disqualification is "not applicable" in his case.

Last week, however, the Supreme Court struck down the review petition filed by Tareen against his lifetime disqualification and upheld the original decision made in the case.

While Tareen stepped down as the secretary general immediately after the Dec 2017 ruling, he remained by PTI Chief Imran Khan's side in meetings and election campaigning, and played a pivotal role in garnering support of independent candidates following the party's victory in the July 25 polls.