PML-N not to proceed against dissident MPAs

Party fears any move at disqualifying lawmakers will affect Senate elections

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) top leadership has decided not to initiate disciplinary action against dissident members who voted for Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, in a bid to prevent more cracks from appearing in the party in Balochistan.

PML-N Balochistan President and former chief minister Sanaullah Zehri has been instructed not to initiate any kind of proceedings against the lawmakers who sided with opposition legislators to bring a no-confidence motion against Zehri, The Express Tribune has learnt.



Zehri had to resign ahead of the motion in order to avoid being voted out as the chief minister of Balochistan because the majority in the Balochistan Assembly was supportive of the motion. In addition, Zehri has also been directed not to take on party legislators for supporting Bizenjo’s candidature as chief minister despite him belonging to the N-League’s rival party -- the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid.

Well-placed party sources said Zehri wanted to take strict action against the dissident lawmakers that would include the termination of their basic party memberships and approaching the Election Commission of Pakistan to have them de-seated from the provincial assembly membership. However, the PML-M leadership has reportedly stopped him from getting tough with the dissident lot.

The matter was discussed at length on Monday during a meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif at Jati Umra, Raiwind in Lahore, according to the insiders.

The top leaders were of the view that initiating disciplinary proceedings against the dissident lawmakers would further weaken the N-League in Balochistan and brew fresh crisis that could delay the Senate elections in which the PML-N eyes a big win.

“In case we proceed against the dissident members and they part ways with the N-League, things would get worse. These lawmakers have the support of members from other parties. If they (the government and opposition lawmakers) resign in bulk, the provincial assembly would head to dissolution—a scenario that can potentially affect the Senate elections,” said a central PML-N leader, who has a say in the party’s policies in Balochistan, requesting anonymity.

He said even though the PML-N leadership is not happy over the elevation of Q-League MPA as the chief minister of the province given the fact that it has only five seats in the 65-member Balochistan Assembly, Sharif and his aides are relieved that the new chief minister would not dissolve the assembly.

In light of Article 63(A) of the Constitution, a lawmaker, who votes against party’s policy regarding the election of PM, CM, monetary affairs or no-confidence motion, can be disqualified on grounds of defection.



However, sources in the PML-N argue that the article does not apply on dissident lawmakers given that neither did the PML-N leadership nominate any candidate for the chief minister’s election nor did it formally issue any instructions against voting for Bizenjo. Also, the no-confidence motion did not enter the voting stage as Zehri stepped down as chief minister before he was voted out.

Article 63(A)(1) reads: “Disqualification on grounds of defection, etc.-(l) If a member of a parliamentary party composed of a single political party in a house­—  (a) resigns from membership of his political party or joins another parliamentary party; or (b) votes or abstains from voting in the house contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to— (i)  election of the prime minister or the chief minister; or (ii) a vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence; or (iii) a money bill or a Constitution (Amendment) Bill; he may be declared in writing by the party head to have defected from the political party, and the party head may forward a copy of the declaration to the presiding officer and the chief election commissioner and shall similarly forward a copy thereof to the member concerned: Provided that before making the declaration, the party head shall provide such member with an opportunity to show cause as to why such declaration may not be made against him.”