The new ruling alliance has said that by-elections will be held in case of mass resignations by the PTI MNAs from the National Assembly.
PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal told a leading news channel on Sunday night that by-elections would be held for vacant seats.
He said that the strategy was in line with what the PTI government used to say when there was talk about en bloc resignations from the PDM platform.
However, the PML-N leader believed that a majority of the PTI members would not support resignations.
“Imran Khan has many un-elected advisers and they are giving him such ideas. Such poor advice like this has brought about his downfall. In fact, the PTI lacks the numerical strength to jolt the entire system. If the PTI disrupts the system in KP, new elections would be held,” he added.
PPP STANCE: Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, PPP leaders Shazia Marri and Faisal Karim Kundi also endorsed Ahsan Iqbal’s assertion that by-elections would be held if the PTI MNAs resign en masse.
They congratulated the nation on the success of the no-confidence motion.
“We got rid of an incompetent and insensitive government through a democratic way. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari staged a public march against the selected government and though the PTI staged many dramas to cling to power yet the no-confidence motion succeeded. The PTI tried to violate the Constitution and law,” she added.
Marri said: “Now Imran Niazi is provoking people and trying to sell a false narrative. Before inciting the people, you have to account for your deeds as the country cannot afford further division. Imran Khan praises India even more than the Indian prime minister. He should regret his statement and refrain from praising India,” she said, adding that anything could be expected from him.
“Everybody knows Indian Prime Minister Modi’s hands are stained with the blood of Kashmiris,” she added.
Kundi said the former NA speaker would be remembered as a violator of the Constitution and he must be tried under Article 6.
EN MASSE RESIGNATIONS: Former minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced Sunday that his party members would resign from the National Assembly on Monday if the nomination of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif is accepted.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday alongside former energy minister Hammad Azhar and former state minister for information Farrukh Habib, he said that PTI chief Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the party’s core committee in Bani Gala where he reiterated that his ouster was part of a regime-change operation back by foreign powers.
“When decisions related to a country’s internal affairs are made from outside, it’s the biggest sign of its slavery.”
Fawad said that his party had sent all declassified documents to the speaker of the NA as well as the chief justice of Pakistan.
He said that the PTI has nominated former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the candidate for the prime minister’s slot.
“We have chosen Qureshi for the prime minister’s slot because firstly, we want to challenge Shehbaz’s nomination because he has a corruption case of Rs16 billion registered against him.”
He expressed his regret and said it would be unfortunate to impose a “foreign, selected, and imported government and on top of that, make Shehbaz the head of the government.
He said that during the meeting, the party’s core committee said that all PTI members should resign from the assemblies.
“We will start off by resigning from the National Assembly,” he said. “And if Shahbaz’s nomination papers are accepted, then we will tender our resignations tomorrow.”
Shortly afterwards, however, the NA Secretariat rejected PTI’s objections and went ahead to accept Shahbaz’s nomination.
He said that a parliamentary party meeting has also been called tonight, adding that most of the PTI members from the assemblies have already submitted their resignation to the party chairman.
Fawad said that all PTI supporters will continue their protests against the alleged foreign conspiracy against Imran Khan.
He went on to say that within the next few months, the party will start gearing up for the elections.
DISAGREEMENT: While Fawad maintained that the majority of PTI members have already handed over their resignations to the PTI chief, insiders said that the majority of the members are not in favour of resigning from the assembly but Sheikh Rashid and Fawad Chaudhry are actively trying to push the party out of the political arena.
Members are of the view that if this happens, then the PTI, as a political party will “suffer irreparable damage.”
On the other hand, sources say that today’s meeting of the PTI parliamentary party has been postponed.
