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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Umar announced Wednesday that he was stepping down as the party's secretary general after serving in the position for the last 17 months.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said he would also no longer remain a part of the PTI's core committee. He clarified, however, that he was not quitting the party.

"Given the current situation [...] after May 9, it is not personally possible for me to continue performing my party leadership duties," the former federal minister said.

"I am resigning as the secretary general of PTI and as the core committee member. One of the reasons why is [...] I am outspoken and I cannot issue personal statements if I holdanoffice."

Umar's press conference comes hours after he was released from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) order.

The court had directed the PTI leader to submit an undertaking that he would not become a part of violent protests following his release.

Umar, along with other PTI leaders, was arrested hours after violent riots erupted across the country following party chairman Imran Khan's arrest on May 9 in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

He had been arrested under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

Declaring Umar's arrest null and void today, IHC's Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb told the PTI leader to "forget" his political career in case he deviated from the undertaking.

The court also directed him to delete two tweets.

After Khan was arrested from the IHC premises on May 9, enraged PTI supporters had launched violent protests, including attacks on the Lahore Corps Commanders House or Jinnah House and the General Headquarters entrance.

Consequently, the party has been under intense criticism in recent days. Thousands of workers have been arrested and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir has said that the legal process to try those involved in attacks on military installations under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act has been started.

A slew of leaders has been leaving the PTI since the May 9 violence, including senior vice presidents Fawad Chaudhry and Shireen Mazari.

'Bid for party chairman?'
Following Umar's announcement journalists questioned whether Umar was going to make a bid for the party chairman position in the future, given that he had not quit the PTI.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is making last-ditch efforts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive the stalled Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, The News reported on Monday.

The hopes are diminishing each day mainly because the ongoing programme of $6.5 billion under the EFF will expire on June 30.

The parleys between Pakistan and the IMF continue for the completion of the ninth review, which was due on November 3 of last year. The formal negotiations started on January 31 when an IMF delegation visited Pakistan for in-person talks.

However, the two sides could not reach a consensus during the course of scheduled talks that ended on February 09. Since then, multiple online sessions have been held but the differences persist on conditions set by the Fund for the Staff Level Agreement (SLA).

If the SLA is not struck ahead of the upcoming budget for 2023-24, scheduled to be unveiled on June 9, the ongoing programme will face a failure.

“There are a couple of options left for moving forward. The first is by signing the SLA on an immediate basis and forwarding Pakistan’s request before the IMF Executive Board for approving the next tranche of $1 billion and also securing an extension in the EFF programme period by a few months in order to accomplish the 10th and 11th Reviews,” sources, privy to the background discussions told the publication.

The second option could be combining the 9th and 10th reviews and for Pakistan to share upcoming budgetary numbers with the IMF.

Then the SLA should be signed after the announcement of the budget and in case of its approval from parliament, the IMF’s Executive Board could approve combined tranches and also grant an extension to the EFF programme for accomplishing the 11th Review by July or August 2023.

“There are no easy options available; both sides will have to work out modalities for evolving consensus. But with the existing approach of maintaining the status quo, no breakthrough can be achieved,” said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.