PTI govt may face trouble in case of no-confidence motion in KP Assembly

Islamabad

The PTI-led provincial government may face a serious political challenge to its 'survival' if the opposition parties and members of the dissident group of PTI join hands to move no-confidence motion against it in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.

"At the moment total number of the members of the opposition parties in the KP Assembly stands at 44 but if 10-14 members of the PTI's dissident group show willingness for a no-confidence motion against the KP government then it will cease to exist in this situation," the sources said.

However, spokesman of the KP government Mushtaq Ghani told The News, "They have clear majority in the KP Assembly and no one can be able to pass no-confidence motion against the PTI-led provincial government." 

Forty four members of the opposition parties include Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) 17; Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) 16; Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) 6; and Awami National Party (ANP) 5. On the other hand, the ruling coalition comprise Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 60; Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) 10; Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) 7; and Independent members.

It is pertinent to mention here that it was widely reported in media that 14 lawmakers belonging to PTI formed a forward bloc in the KP Assembly, terming it a group of like-minded individuals. The sources claimed that the ruling PML-N has no intention to pave the way for no-trust motion against PTI-led provincial government but if it feels that the PTI leadership plans to dissolve the provincial assembly to create political crisis then it would waste no time to carry out this task.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan threatened on June 25, 2014 during his infamous 'dharna' at D-Chowk (Islamabad) that "He can dissolve the KP Assembly and join hands with PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri for revolution in pursuit of justice."

The sources said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif first refused to form his party's coalition government in KP after 2013 general elections and later 'vetoed' the plan for a no-trust motion against the KP government during the protest sit-in of PTI in Islamabad in 2014. 

Talking to The News, PTI's MPA Qurban Ali Khan who leads the dissident group said Imran Khan agreed to meet members of the dissidents group but later he showed his inability to do so. "KP chief minister Pervaiz Khattak announced to issue show-cause notices to members of the dissident group but no such notices were sent to them. We will not make compromise on ruthless accountability and merit culture in the province so all efforts to address their reservations would fail without serving these purposes," he said. 

To a question, he said they would show their strength, whenever needed, in the provincial assembly because the KP chief minister was not telling truth with the people who supported PTI in 2013 general elections. "If the KP government never follows the policies given in the PTI's election manifesto then they would not get party tickets in next general elections. We don't need tickets from such elements who are not ready to pursue the election manifesto of the party," he said. 

The assembly has 124 elected members -- 99 regular seats, 22 seats reserved for women and 3 seats for Non-Muslims.

Mushtaq Ghani said those who were giving threats of moving no-trust motion against the KP government could do nothing and they were just trying to divert the attention of the people from the PanamaLeaks and their corruption cases. "I challenge our opponents that if they have courage then they should move no-confidence motion against the PTI-led provincial government. The people of Pakistan will show no-confidence against the incumbent government on November 2," he said.

To a question about dissident group of PTI in the KP Assembly, he said their leadership would address their grievances and all their issues would be resolved soon. When contacted, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rashid told The News that PML-N respected the mandate of PTI in the KP province that was why it never ever tried to destabilise the KP government. "At the moment we are not considering to move no-confidence motion against the KP government despite insistence from other political parties.