PTI MPA says she boycotted meeting chaired by PM to register protest

PESHAWAR: PTI MPA Maliha Asghar confirmed on Wednesday that she had boycotted a recent meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan to protest the alleged lack of representation of the Hazara region in the PTI.

Speaking to Geo News, Asghar said she was invited to a meeting held in Peshawar a couple of days ago by PM Imran Khan, where the party's lawmakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were invited.

However, she deliberately did not go in the meeting.

"PTI's parliamentary board does not have any representation of Hazaras," she said. "I was invited to the meeting but I [deliberately] did not go."

Asghar said that the party should have nominated a youngster, a woman or any other educated figure from the Hazara region as its candidate for the upcoming Senate elections.

"All decisions of the party are being taken from Peshawar," she said, criticising the alleged lack of decentralisation in the PTI's decision-making.

"If the proportion of seats is considered then the Hazara region should get three seats, Peshawar should get six, the south region should get two seats and the Malakand region should be allotted three seats," she added.

However, Asghar said she would vote for the PTI candidates in the upcoming Senate elections. "I never sold [my vote] for money and never intend to," she said.

20 PTI MPAs absent from KP lawmakers meeting chaired by PM Imran Khan

Sources had earlier confirmed to Geo News that 20 lawmakers-- 14 MNAs and six MPAs-- remained absent from a meeting of the party's KP lawmakers chaired by the prime minister.

The lawmakers did not attend the meeting due to preoccupations and various other reasons, said the sources.

During the meeting, the prime minister had categorically told lawmakers that whoever wanted to sell their vote in the upcoming Senate elections should leave the party.

"Everyone gets to know about the MPA who sells his/her vote," he had reportedly said.

The prime minister had spoken about the previous Senate elections, saying that some MPAs of the party had then sold their votes for money, adding that he had dismissed them from the party after finding out about it.

"The Opposition is afraid that the PTI will secure a majority in the Senate," he was quoted as saying by sources.

However, these MNAs did not attend the meeting for the following reasons:

• Speaker Asad Qaiser had to preside over a National Assembly session
• Ali Muhammad Khan had an important meeting and had excused himself from the meeting by requesting the prime minister
• Omar Ayub had taken part in the meeting via video link
• Sahibzada Sabfhatullah Ullah's sister had died
• Arbab Amir was in Lahore at the time, whereas two other MNAs, Saleh Muhammad and Yaqoob Sheikh were in Karachi and Dubai respectively