‘MPAs will not be allowed to take oath’

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has said that he would not allow the newly-elected minority and female Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) on reserved seats to take oath under any circumstances because the seats belonged to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday night in Peshawar, the chief minister said that the K-P government would resist all pressure in this regard.

He also demanded that a judicial commission be formed to investigate the May 9 riots as well as the removal of Imran Khan as prime minister.

“We demand that a full court be formed to hear the Islamabad High Court judges’ letter case and that the proceedings be broadcast live on all channels so that the entire nation could be informed as to who was responsible for pressurizing the judges,” he said.

The chief minister was accompanied at the press conference by Information Advisor Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Provincial Minister Arshad Ayub and Ayesha Bano.

“The decision to postpone the Senate elections in K-P is against the Constitution,” he said, adding that the reserved seats of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had been snatched and given to other parties which was not acceptable.

“Let me make it clear that we will not allow MPAs elected on reserved seats to take oath and this will be resisted until the end,” he said.

“The president and prime minister were elected without the votes of these reserved seat MPAs. Senate elections were also possible but were postponed in the province without any justification,” he maintained, adding that a parliamentary committee had passed a resolution in this regard and it would also be passed by the provincial assembly.

“Imran Khan has been arrested as per a preplanned conspiracy and we demand that the May 9 riots be thoroughly investigated because all these things happened as per the London plan,” he noted, adding that PTI workers and leaders were being wrongfully booked in planted cases and subsequently being harassed.

“Army installations were burnt down on May 9 but who opened the gates of these installations to allow the rioters in? Videos of these attacks should be made public so that the general public knows who was behind the arson and riots,” he observed.

“As far as the letter by IHC judges is concerned, putting pressure on judges is not new and a full court should be announced to tackle this case. Verdicts against the PTI were announced under pressure which is evident from the fact that a judge went to a hospital thrice to have his blood pressure checked before announcing the judgment,” said the chief minister.

“When the Rawalpindi Commissioner talked about the pressure on him, he was declared mentally ill. But the PTI will not bow to such pressure and tactics”, he added.

“Let me repeat that the February 8 elections were not free and fair and were plagued by record rigging”, he claimed.

“The PPP won just 13 NA seats and the PML-N just 25 PA and 17 NA seats in Punjab. The remaining seats were clinched by the PTI because the general public supported Imran Khan and but the party’s mandate was stolen,” he shared.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2024.