No-trust motion submitted against K-P CM

After Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, the opposition on Friday submitted a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
The opposition alliance submitted the motion in the assembly secretariat.

“Whereas Mr Mahmood Khan has ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the members of this assembly as the chief minister, it is hereby resolved that the said Mr Mahmood Khan shall stand ceased to hold the said office,” the motion read.

The motion carries signatures of 43 members of the provincial assembly including 17 members from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan, 12 from the Awami National Party, seven from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, five from the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and one lawmaker each from the Jamaat-e-Islami and an independent MPA.

The motion, according to the opposition members, was moved in order to stop any unconstitutional step (referring to dissolving the provincial assembly) since they feared that PM Imran had already advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, he could also ask Chief Minister Mahmood to advise Governor Shah Farman to dissolve the K-P assembly.

“There is no doubt that any motion of no confidence is moved once you have the required number in your hand and we have the required number of members of the provincial assembly,” PML-N MPA Ikhtyar Wali said.

Wali said, “The man [PM Imran] who lacked the capacity to run the country can take an unconstitutional step which is why the alliance has moved the motion.” He said over 20% of the assembly members signed the motion.

Read more: Opposition submits no-trust motion against Buzdar

The opposition members informed that unconstitutional steps were being taken, adding that the motion was moved after consultation with Opposition Leader Akram Khan Durrani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the rest of the members.

When contacted, Special Assistant to the CM on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif ruled out the possibility of dissolving the provincial assembly, saying there was no need to dissolve the assembly where “there is a huge majority”.

Also read: No-trust vote: Political crisis explained

“Why do we need to dissolve an assembly where we have two-thirds majority. They (opposition) did this horse-trading in the National Assembly and they think they will do the same here too but they don’t know that all the PTI members in the K-P Assembly stand with Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Saif told The Express Tribune.

Saif also informed they enjoyed support of the K-P residents who gave the PTI two-thirds majority in the provincial assembly. “It is the opposition’s right to submit a motion of no confidence against the chief minister but it certainly does not mean that the opposition won.”

The National Assembly's session for voting on the no-confidence motion against Premier Imran will take place at 10:30am today (Saturday) in line with the Supreme Court's order.