PTI to de-seat six rebel lawmakers

PTI core committee decides to file references under defection clause against party’s six lawmakers for not following party chief’s call for resignations from NA

The core committee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday endorsed party Chairman Imran ‎Khan’s decision to send home at least six party lawmakers for violating party discipline by refusing to resign from the parliament on PTI’s call.

Earlier this year, at least six lawmakers had refused to submit their resignations following the PTI chief’s announcement to tender resignations in the national and provincial assemblies. Out of the six, three lawmakers are close relatives of KP Chief Mini‎ster Pervez Khattak.

All the rebel lawmakers hail from KP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). PTI believes it can once again win the vacated constituencies after these lawmakers are de-seated.

Talking to Pakistan Today, a source in PTI said the core committee decided to file references against the party’s six lawmakers under the defection clause over their ‎refusal to follow the party chairman’s decision.

“The meeting decided to de-seat Musarrat Ahmedzaib, Gulzar Khan, Siraj Khan, Nasir Khattak, Qaisar Jamal Afridi and Salimur Rehman Khan for violating party discipline,” the source said.

‎The committee also discussed the party’s struggle over the past four months and the party’s weaknesses, said the source.

PTI CONDEMNS PESHWARA ATTACK:

According to the source, PTI’s core committee meeting unanimously passed a resolution strongly denouncing the attack by Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) on Army Public School and College Peshawar.

“The meeting also condemned in strongest terms all acts of terrorism across Pakistan by TTP or its affiliate banned organisations. No one can allow attacks on innocent civilians, butchering of small children and attacking women in the name of Islam. We stand by our armed forces and the bereaved families in this hour of mourning,” said the resolution.

NO SHIFT IN AGENDA FOR TALKS:

The party also endorsed the dialogue process with the government regarding the formation of a judicial commission for vote audit. The committee also resolved that the party would not budge from its principled stance during the talks, the source added.

“Since (PTI Vice Chairman) Shah Mahmood Qureshi could not attend the meeting, PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen briefed the ‎meeting over the talks with the government. Tareen expressed hope that the talks were positive and if things did not go wrong, both the sides may reach a conclusion in the next sitting,” said the source.