Opposition faces embarrassment over no-trust motion

PESHAWAR: Opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly faced an embarrassing situation the other day as it had to withdraw the no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.

Though the opposition clarified they had submitted the no-trust motion to avoid dissolution of the assembly and took it back after getting the assurance that the assembly would not be dissolved, the treasury benches said the opposition did not have the required number and withdrew the motion to save their face.

The motion instead provided Chief Minister Mahmood Khan the opportunity of renewing trust of the members as 88 of them reposed confidence in his leadership by voting in favour of a resolution moved to pay tributes to him.

Only three members from the opposition opposed the resolution. Apparently, it seemed the no-trust move was submitted on the government’s advice and it was aimed at providing the CM a chance to renew the vote of trust.

It raises questions if the combined opposition was aware of its strength in the 145-member house then why the motion was brought in hurry. The withdrawal of the motion proved the opposition’s claim of having support of 17 to 21 members from the ruling party was wrong.

Some quarters say the motion was submitted on the advice of the chief minister, though he told the House that the opposition withdrew its motion in frustration as its claims of having the support from treasury benches was baseless.

Rejecting the rumors of rifts in PTI ranks, he said the members had full trust in him.

Earlier, Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak along with Khushdil Khan, Sobia Shahid of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Nighat Orakzai took back the no-confidence motion from the assembly secretary Kifayatullah Afridi.

Interestingly Inayatullah Khan of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the component party of joint opposition in the KP Assembly, clarified on the floor of the House that his party was not part or in favour of submitting a no-trust motion and he had just signed the requisition for the assembly session. His statement put a question mark on the opposition motion as the speaker repeatedly asked him if his sign was fake?

Sardar Babak had no words how to defend or justify tabling and then withdrawing the no-confidence motion. Though no-confidence could not succeed, it strengthened the government’s position.