Most dissident lawmakers will return to the PTI fold, says PM Imran

Tariq Butt, Correspondent

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that most of the dissident lawmakers of his party will return to the PTI because of “public pressure.”

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony of Rawalpindi Ring Road project, he said that huge bags of money had been doled out to purchase loyalties of lawmakers.

“There is a market to purchase conscience of people through illegal pelf. The police force was summoned from the Sindh province to guard the Sindh House where illegal activities were happening,” he added.

The prime minister said that the nation’s anger would keep on brewing with the opposition’s push for its no-confidence motion, adding that the public should witness this kind of politics which had always pushed the country behind in terms of progress and prosperity.

Imran went on to say that it was necessary for the public to realise what was happening in the country now, adding that the public should realise the politics of ill-gotten wealth.

These people, he said, had plundered the national wealth and sent it abroad. No one among them ever felt ashamed. These things did not happen in a democratic system, the prime minister said, adding in the West, or the United Kingdom where he spent most of his life, there was no place for corrupt elements.

Earlier during the day, the PTI served show-cause notices on its 14 dissident Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) citing Article 63-A of the Constitution for publicly siding with the opposition ahead of the no-trust motion against Imran.

The notices were issued a day after the PTI political committee decided to take disciplinary action against its lawmakers before the crucial voting on the motion. The lawmakers have been given seven days to present themselves before the party chairman.

The notices have been issued to the following MNAs: Noor Alam Khan (NA-27 Peshawar-I); Dr Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla (NA-98 Bhakkar-II); Nawab Sher (NA-102 Faisalabad-II); Raja Riaz Ahmed (NA-110 Faisalabad-X); Ahmed Hussain Deharr (NA-154 Multan-I); Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon (NA-159 Multan-VI); Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo (NA-166 Bahawalnagar-I); Makhdoom Zada Syed Basit Ahmed Sultan (NA-185 Muzaffargarh-V); Aamir Talal Gopang (NA-186 Muzaffargarh-VI); Khawja Sheraz Mehmood (NA-189 D.G.Khan-I); Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari (NA-195 Rajanpur-III); Wajiha Qamar; Nuzhat Pathan; and Ramesh Kumar Vankwani.

The notice mentions that the interviews given to the media outlets by these members show that they have left PTI and therefore they are directed to present themselves before the party chairman. It further noted that the dissident lawmaker has neither denied the content of his interview nor has he issued any rebuttal to this “act of defection” and “your interviews contain a clear intent of leaving the membership of the PTI.”

At least three more PTI members of the National Assembly have announced that they no longer support Imran. Even before supporters of the government descended upon the Sindh House the other day, where a number of government-allied lawmakers had been staying, the opposition moved quickly to relocate its trump cards.

The PTI dissidents have been shifted from Sindh House to a safe place in a posh sector of Islamabad. This is the same area where Zardari House is also located.

PTI dissident Noor Alam Khan, who was among those staying at Sindh House “for their safety,” claimed to have received threatening messages. He also tweeted a screenshot of the WhatsApp messages he apparently received. Meanwhile, opposition leaders warned that if the resolution calling for a no-confidence vote against Imran was not presented in the NA on Monday they could stage a “sit-in” in the lower house, thereby hampering an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit that is scheduled to take place there on the same day.

PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif said that Speaker Asad Qaiser should “come to his senses,” adding that otherwise “neither history nor the people of Pakistan would forgive him.” He asked Qaiser not to become a “tool” in the hands of Imran.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said that we still request people to return as "doors to repentance are open.” "The prime minister will not be blackmailed in this situation,” he said, adding that those lawmakers who do not want to give a vote in favour of Imran Khan can resign from their seats.