Putting a question mark on the legitimacy on the party presidency of PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, PML-Q Likeminded President Senator Salim Saifullah on Wednesday said Shujaat could not invoke the defection clause against party dissidents.
He said his group of 11 senators would stick to its decision of supporting Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N for the slot of the leader of the opposition in the Upper House. “If Shujaat continues to intervene, we [presently 11 Senators who could go up to 15] may ask for his removal as the parliamentary leader,” he warned. Addressing a press conference, Saifullah clarified that the defection clause was not applicable to them since a party head could utilise it in case the party members did not follow the line for vote of confidence or money bill.
“Selection of the leader of the opposition has nothing to do with disqualification on this ground,” he added. “We will keep our political identity intact and sit on opposition benches along with a number of National Assembly members,” he added. To a question about his group’s merger with the PML-N, Saifullah did not rule out the possibility, quite evident from the tilt of his faction towards the PML-N at this juncture.
“Chaudhry brothers went for an alliance with the ruling PPP only to serve their personal interests,” Saifullah said, adding that “we have been given the mandate of opposition and will stick to it.”
