Azam Khan Swati is the senior VP of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf. Swati holds a law degree from the University of Houston with a doctorate in Jurisprudence. He began his career in the States where he earned millions through real estate and oil disbursement. However, by the end of 2011 he had joined PTI.
Swati reportedly belongs to a well-off family and began his political career in 2001 after being elected to be a part of the local government in Mansehra. Though this role was quite low key, just a year later Swati quit the role and opted to contest the Senate Elections. He later won as a member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl party (JUI-F) and became one of the most imminent and vocal members of the group.
In 2010, Swati became a household name after an infamous Hajj scam case. He was known to have tailed Hamid Saeed, the minister of religious affairs over Hajj arrangement related corruption. As a result, Swati was dismissed from his role of Federal Minister for Science and Technology from the cabinet formed at the time.
Despite not being considered an active part of the case, his open and vocal media support for several culprits involved in the matter meant law defilement. As a result of his dismissal from the cabinet, JUI infamously left its alliance with PPP. Through this ruckus and the Hajj case, Swati received a lot of backlash for not only supporting corruption but also being amongst the corrupt in Pakistan.
A year following the scam, Swati stepped out of the Senate as well and claimed that the work he witnessed the law do was not in support of the country. The letter spurred further problems for Swati and his role in JUIF that eventually led him to quit the party as well. However, the story was spun in favor of the party when they publicly declared that Swati’s resignation was the result of a denied ticket in the Senate elections of 2012.
This sparked a debate and Swati replied that it was him who had opted out of the Senate and has already been a part of it before. It was during this time that he announced himself as an independent candidate.
It was the end of this era and the start of 2012 when he joined Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf. Swati is reportedly the richest legislator and has expressed his desire to use his money for good use. Since joining PTI, he supported the demand that Hazara be made a separate province to the extent that he agreed to expedite the process financially.
