PTI seeks de-seating of rebel MPs

Party submits references against them under Article 63-A

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has submitted references against its 20 rebel lawmakers to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser before he stepped down. The references were sent by the prime minister and handed over to the speaker by the party’s chief whip in the house, Amir Dogar.

The references were filed under Article 63-A of the Constitution. The article suggests disqualification of an MNA on grounds of defection for not obeying the parliamentary party’s directions in the election of the prime minister, chief minister or vote of confidence or no confidence.

The references read that the dissidents were exposed via “large-scale broadcast and videos” to have quit the PTI, joined the opposition for the no-trust motion against the premier and no denials or rebuttals were issued to the acts of defection.

They added that show-cause notices were sent to the rebel lawmakers to clarify why declarations to de-seat them from the NA should not be issued against them but they had failed to respond to them or clarify their position.

They further stated that the members had failed to adhere to their "sacred duty" and had breached the confidence of the PTI, the voters and the public by switching their loyalties to another party.
They [the dissidents] had caused an "irreparable loss to the democratic system and blatantly injured the cause and object of the PTI”, the references read.

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The speaker was requested to initiate proceedings to de-seat the members under Article 63-A as they had defected from the PTI.

Last month, one of the dissidents had revealed that at least 24 of them were staying at the Sindh House in Islamabad.

Raja Riaz, a member of rebel PTI faction known as the Jahangir Tareen group, had claimed that they moved to the Sindh House due to “security concerns”.

He had said that a group of 24 PTI dissident MNAs was present at the Sindh House in the federal capital and that it would vote on the no-trust motion “according to their conscience”.