PTI lawmakers hit back at party leaders

Demand that K-P chief minister provide proof

PESHAWAR: A day after the ruling party decided to oust and prosecute its lawmakers who partook in horse-trading during last month’s Senate elections, some disgruntled lawmakers included in the list have asked the government to prove their allegations.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Fouzia Bibi, who was included in the PTI list of 18 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) lawmakers who indulged in horse-trading, challenged Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Thursday to prove that she had sold her votes.

The lawmaker, who hails from Chitral, called on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s to hand over what evidence he had to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for investigation.



Addressing a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, she called for an independent investigation.

“I am ready to respond to allegations levelled against me from party chief Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak,” she said, adding, “I was informed that my named was not on the first list and that there was no allegation against me.”



The lawmaker, who was included among five female PTI MPAs in the list, accused Khattak and other party leaders of including her name in the final list to protect their own blue-eyed people in the party.

She stated that the party should have first issued show cause notices and afforded them a chance to respond before making the matter public, suggesting that this way they had been prejudged.

“The CM was well aware of who was involved in horse-trading but they only protected their own people,” alleged the reserved seat MPA.

“I will never blame anyone for selling their votes in the Senate elections, but I will challenge everyone to present evidence against me,” she demanded.



Not even in the party

While Fouzia was angry at her inclusion in the list, recent joining Meraj Humayun was perplexed at her inclusion, maintaining that she was not even in the party when voting in the Senate elections took place.

Humayun, who had joined the PTI from the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), said she had actually voted for the bloc which Khattak backed.

Addressing a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, the former reserved seat for women MPA said that the bloc also included QWP’s winning candidate Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli.

The PTI and the QWP had struck a deal to back each other’s candidates during the Senate elections.

“PTI allegations levelled against me have hurt me and my supporters,” she said, adding, “this is not the way, the party should ask legally after completing investigations.”

“How does the CM know who did I vote for?” she asked, adding, “if we MPAs [of QWP] did not vote for the PTI, then how did five PTI senators get elected.”

She added that if the PTI did not trust its MPAs then they should have boycotted the Senate elections.

“I will wait for show cause notice and will defend our status in any forum and convince the party leadership [of my innocence],” she stated defiantly.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2018.