ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Khadijah Shah has said she will renounce her United States citizenship as she announced that she is accepting the party’s nomination for reserved seats.
“The decision to give up my American citizenship, which guarantees freedom, safety and opportunity, was not easy. But Pakistan is my homeland, the place I call home and the country where I have built my life. I cannot give up on it and my people.” Shah said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
The PTI supporter, a fashion designer by profession, has been embroiled in a series of legal cases over her alleged involvement in the May 9 riots, which were triggered after party founder Imran Khan was arrested in a bribery case that saw military installations including the General Headquarters (GHQ) , the house of the corps commander in Lahore is vandalized by angry mobs.
Shah surrendered to the Punjab Police in Lahore on May 23 last year and spent months behind bars before securing bail in January 2024 at an anti-terrorism court in Quetta.
Continuing her post on social media, the PTI activist said she was honored to be nominated by party founder Khan for the reserved seats and accepted it with the “hope to live up to his expectations and the expectations of my fellow citizens”.
The development comes as the Supreme Court on July 12 ruled that the PTI was eligible for allotment of reserved seats for women and minorities, paving the way for the return of the party to Parliament, which was kicked out of the polls on February 8 due to the election body’s decision from December 2023.
The judgment also increased pressure on the coalition alliance as it will change the composition of the National Assembly.
The ECP, according to The News, has already notified as many as 93 legislators from the three provincial legislatures as PTI members.
The election body has issued notices for 29 PTI members from Punjab, 58 members from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and six members from Sindh.
Shah lamented her personal experience of “unimaginable injustice” and said that the adversity she faced actually gave her meaning.
“I am driven by the desire to change Pakistan,” her Instagram post read.
However, the fashion designer stressed that as her dual citizenship issue is resolved, she will be represented by Mehrunnisa Sajjad – a barrister and graduate of Oxford University.
Noting that Sajjad is neither a family member nor a friend, Shah said she chose the lawyer after careful consideration because he embodies what I hope every Pakistani woman can have the opportunity to become.
I am proud to have nominated such an exceptional young Pakistani woman to represent PTI and me in Parliament,” said a PTI supporter.
