| PM chairs high-level party meeting | Receives briefings over contacts made with allies, estranged members of PTI | Says ‘corrupt’ people have joined hands to ‘topple State’ | Vote seller, buyers warned with Article 6 | Minister claims voting against party lines to be betrayal of Constitution
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday held consultations with the senior leadership of the party for the no-trust move against him by the opposition parties.
According to sources privy to the matter, the meeting mulled over the strategy for the no-trust move. “A strategy has been prepared during the meeting to foil no-trust move against the prime minister,” they said.
The PTI leaders briefed the prime minister regarding contacts being made with the estranged members of the party in National Assembly and allies,” they said.
PM Imran Khan was quoted as saying in the meeting that the opposition is not concerned regarding the public but is more interested in getting scot-free in their trials for corruption cases.
A report on Saturday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will spend the next two days in meetings with members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ahead of a no-trust move against him.
According to sources privy to the matter, the prime minister has also summoned members of the PTI’s political committee at Bani Gala as he would meet PTI MNAs on Saturday and Sunday.
“The prime minister will discuss the no-trust move with the lawmakers and also give the party guideline to them,” they said and added, “Reservations of the PTI lawmakers will also be addressed during the meetings.”
Meanwhile, In the backdrop of reports about horse-trading ahead of the vote on the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the ruling PTI’s Senator Faisal Javed Khan on Sunday warned that lawmakers who sell or buy votes will be treated as “traitors” under Article 6.
“Article 6 will be applied on those who will sell or buy votes. This is not constitutional change — it is a betrayal from the Constitution,” tweeted Senator Faisal
with the oath taken lawmakers on his Twitter handle.
“If a lawmaker crosses the floor, he will betray with his oath,” claimed the senator.
The PTI lawmaker warned that besides Article 6, Articles 62 and 63 can also be applied against the MNAs who crosses the floor on the day of the voting on the no-trust motion against the PM. He added that Articles 62 and 63 could lead to a lifetime disqualification from politics .
The senator issued the warning in response to a tweet by PML-N leader Khawaja Asif.
The former foreign minister had tweeted that the Opposition is brining a constitutional change via the no-confidence motion.
“The sole purpose is to establish rule of law and the Constitution. If the civil bureaucracy and the police try to sabotage this constitutional process, then Article 6 of the constitution is clear,” Asif had said.
The PTI senator and the PML-N leader’s tweets come amid the no-confidence motion submitted by the Opposition against PM Imran Khan in the NA Secretariat.
A total of 86 lawmakers from the Opposition parties signed the no-confidence motion, sources said.
JUI-F’s Shahida Akhtar Ali, PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique and PPP’s Naveed Qamar and Shazia Marri submitted the no-trust motion and requisition for a session to the NA Secretariat.
Currently, the government has a 17-member lead over the Opposition but the latter has claimed that it has enough support to prove that PM Imran Khan no more commands the people’s trust.
However, the government is confident that PM Imran will win the backing of the National Assembly.
