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No-confidence motion submitted against CM
Rehman says opposition has support of 46 lawmakers
INPPESHAWAR – The opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Tuesday submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to stop assembly dissolution in case the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) makes an attempt to do so.
Speaking to journalists, opposition leader Lutfur Rehman said that they had Pakistan Muslim League-N, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) and the Qaumi Wattan Party (QWP) on board meaning support of 46 members.
Rehman said that the motion had been submitted in order to save the provincial assembly. The move has been taken as a legal means to stop the dissolution of the assembly by the chief executive if the political crisis in the country worsens.
At present, in the 124 member KP Assembly, PTI has 56 seats, Jamaat-i-Islami eight, Awami Jamhori Ittehad five, PML-N and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F 17 each, PPP and Awami National Party five each and Qaumi Wattan Party has 10 seats, whereas, election are still to be held for a Dera Ismail Khan seat.
The PTI-led government in Pakhtunkhwa was formed through a coalition with a total of 69 seats. If the Jamaat parts from the coalition and joins the opposition, the PTI-led coalition will be left with 61 seats whereas opposition parties would have 62 seats, one more than the government.
In this case, 62 votes are required to both save and oust Chief Minister Khattak. At the same time, at least 15 PTI lawmakers allegedly have serious differences with the chief minister. However, Ziaullah Bangash told a private TV channel that rumours about possible desertions from the party were baseless.
“We are with the party leadership and will follow the instructions of the chief minister,” Bangash said. The move to submit the no-confidence motion comes a day after parliamentarians from the PTI – apart from the ones sitting in the assembly – handed in their resignations to their party head.
This announcement came just a day after Imran Khan stunned the country by announcing that he will storm the 'red zone.'
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk