- PTI chief says KP Assembly’s future will be decided Friday, will dissolve assembly if horse-trading is established in Senate polls
- Taking pride in his ‘corruption-free politics’, Khan says any PTI MPA who votes for any party than his will be kicked out
Establishing that the fate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly rests on a crucial meeting between the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its coalition members after Senate polls, PTI Chairman Imran Khan said Wednesday that his party was willing to go to any extent to stop horse-trading in the upcoming Senate elections, even if it means dissolving the assembly.
The meeting, which is to be held at the KP Chief Minister’s House, will make clear whether the provincial assembly will be dissolved, said the PTI chief in a joint press conference with Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq in Peshawar on Wednesday.
Criticising Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for laying down the foundations of horse trading in Pakistan’s politics, Khan said he will not bear horse-trading and those MPs who do not vote on party lines in the upcoming Senate elections on Friday will be dealt with strictly.
Maintaining his opposition to secret balloting and demand for direct elections for Senate seats, the politician known for his aggressive career as a sportsman said that if a majority does not vote for the party’s nominated candidate, he will have no option but to dissolve the KP Assembly.
“If we find out that any MPA does not vote for the party candidates, he will be kicked out of the party. He could also be put in jail and tried according to sections of the Election Commission. We will even dissolve the assembly if there is a requirement, and will hold new elections,” he said as KP CM Pervez Khattak remained present by his leader’s side.
The PTI chief said that PTI MPAs will not even give their second vote to opposing candidates, including those from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Qaumi Watan Party-Sherpao (QWP).
Khan added that the next course of action will be decided after the party’s committee meeting on March 6, a day after the elections of the Upper House of Parliament. He said that there were seven Senate candidates from PTI, all of whom belong to KP, and were selected on merit unlike other parties.
“Our founding member Fouzia Kasuri wanted to contest but we did not allow her [as she is from Punjab],” he said.