Taking offence: Opposition submits motion against PTI chief’s ‘threat’

Claims the party leader’s remarks about dissolving the assembly are unconstitutional.

PESHAWAR:

Opposition parties in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Monday submitted a privilege motion against Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for threatening to dissolve the legislature.

The motion was jointly signed by Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) MPA Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA Nighat Orakzai and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s (JUI-F) Mehmood Khan Bhittani.



The simmering political crisis in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reached a tipping point this past Friday when Khan warned a group of disgruntled legislators of his party, saying that he would rather dissolve the provincial legislature and call for fresh elections than cave in to the their ‘blackmailing’. The warning came hours after 14 PTI legislators handed their resignations from the assembly membership to the deputy speaker, Imtiaz Shahid.

The motion reads that PTI Chairman Imran Khan made a public statement threatening to dissolve the provincial assembly of K-P.

It read that this callous remark was not only an attempt to intimidate elected representatives, but was also an attack on the parliamentary process – hence, labeling it a breach of privilege of members as well as the legislature itself.

JUI-F MPA Bhittani said the PTI chief’s remarks have compromised the assembly. He added the government had the opportunity to deliver on its promises and had no right to threaten the dissolution of the assembly. “It is a breach of members’ privilege and the house, which will not be tolerated,” he said.

QWP issued a separate statement, saying that opposition parties have submitted the privilege motion because Imran Khan had disrespected public representatives as well as the people of K-P who elected them.

The statement referred to Khan’s comments in response to PTI’s provincial leadership crisis, as undemocratic and unconstitutional. It further read that opposition lawmakers feel the people of K-P gave a mandate to PTI and the party is now cowering in its leadership instead of honouring the commitments it made during last year’s election campaign.

It accused the PTI-led provincial government of being powerless, as it was run by its chief from Bani Gala. The statement went as far as saying that Khan was using K-P as a launching pad to gain political support in the centre and had little understanding of the problems faced by the province.

This is not the first time the opposition has seized the opportunity and ridden on the coattails of the recent rift in PTI’s leadership.

K-P Assembly’s joint opposition previously submitted a requisition signed by 40 members, calling to discuss an 11-point-agenda. Opposition leaders also hinted they would demand that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak prove his majority in the aftermath of the rift in his party.

Meanwhile, after a recent meeting with their party chairman, the PTI’s disgruntled provincial legislators – who triggered the crisis – appear to be appeased with Imran Khan’s response to their grievances.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2014.