PTI loses majority in K-P assembly

Opposition may not bring no-confidence motion against government

PESHAWAR: With just weeks remaining before the term of the assembly expires, PTI on Wednesday announced it would take action against over a dozen provincial lawmakers for allegedly selling their votes in last month’s senate elections. But in doing so, it has thrown away its simple majority in the legislature.

Curiously, the opposition in the house says it will not bring a no-confidence motion and seek to capitalise on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) precarious position, terming such a move pointless.

In a news conference in the federal capital on Wednesday evening, PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced the names of 18 party lawmakers (including two who had joined it from the Qaumi Watan Party and the rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz) and two coalition members who had indulged in horse-trading in the recent Senate elections.



Imran said that they had issued show-cause notices to these lawmakers and would even take their alleged disloyalty to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for further legal action.

Harsh decision

Some PTI lawmakers included in the list, though, have vehemently denied the accusations of horse-trading.

Javed Naseem said that the party had first tried to expel him three years ago and it took a court order to reclaim his valid seat.

Yasin Khalil refuted the allegations and stated that he had even met with Imran and the K-P chief minister to convince them that he did not partake in horse-trading.

Weak position

As a result, the PTI is now only left with just 41 lawmakers of its own, seven from its coalition partner, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and an independent member in the 122-member house. Hence, there is a high probability that a no-confidence motion moved by the opposition to de-seat the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak may sail through and bring about a change in government.

But it seems that the PTI had very coldly calculated the timing of its move.

With only 40 days left before the assembly completes its term, the party had already made it clear that it did not have any intention to present the budget for the next fiscal year 2018-19.

Hence, they did not require a majority in the house to pass the financial bill.

However, the government — if it hosts a new session of the assembly — will face trouble in passing a number of bills and amendments which it has pending in the pipeline, including one which would allow it to borrow from the hydel development fund.

However, that may not force the government to summon a session of the assembly since they can pass ordinances instead of resorting to the assembly to clear amendments.

Disinterested opposition

Should the provincial government call a fresh session of the house, it would give the opposition an opportunity to cash in on the PTI’s self-determined weak position in the house.



However, opposition parties in the parliament are hesitant and said that they will think about a no-confidence motion.

Opposition Leader Maulana Lutfur Rahman of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) told The Express Tribune that it was useless to table the motion since the assembly’s tenure is almost complete.

“If we bring the motion, it will take time and bringing a new chief minister for merely 10 to 12 days is useless,” Rahman explained.

He pointed out that the assembly has only 40 days left and the process of bringing a motion will take 15 days. Then to decide on a candidate for the chief minister’s slot candidate and allow the government seven days would leave just a few days for the new chief minister to rule.

Rahman, however, criticized the government for refusing to present a budget.

“They are running away from the budget as they know that they will not be able to pass it and that the opposition will mold it according to their priorities, hence they announced not to present the budget to cover-up their own failure,” he said, adding that most of the lawmakers who were ousted from the party on Wednesday had either already grown disillusioned or had left the party.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2018.