PESHAWAR:
The fireworks expected in today’s session of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly seem to have been put on hold as the opposition withdrew its no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. Speaker K-P Assembly Asad Qaiser confirmed the withdrawal of the motion.
Opposition leaders were supposed to hold a meeting with the assembly speaker on Wednesday afternoon, but the prior engagements of Opposition Leader, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) Maulana Lutfur Rehman, meant it had to be rescheduled for noon today. However, assembly secretariat officials said Rehman came personally to withdraw the motion.
Qaiser was asked to convince the joint opposition to withdraw its no-confidence motion against CM Khattak after a recent meeting with Sirajul Haq, the central chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) major coalition partner, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
It is believed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif played a big hand in convincing the opposition. Sources revealed that during a meeting on Tuesday with a JUI-F delegation in Islamabad, Sharif asked party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman not to take up the no-confidence motion in the K-P Assembly session.
Although an official handout claimed that “matters relating to the national and political situation” were discussed, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources said Fazal had prepared a plan to topple the PTI-led provincial government.
They further stated the religious party told the PM it had acquired the majority vote of K-P Assembly members, including 15 disgruntled PTI legislators. However, sources said Sharif was against the idea, adding that the prime minister asked the JUI-F to wait and watch PTI’s performance in the province.
Following the meeting, Fazl held a news conference and announced that opposition parties in K-P decided not to take up the no-confidence motion against Khattak.
Opposition parties initially submitted the requisition on August 19 in the wake of PTI lawmakers’ resignations from the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Sindh as well as the National Assembly.
The objective was to stop the chief minister from dissolving the K-P Assembly. “We don’t have any concern with PTI legislatures’ resignations from the provincial assembly,” ANP parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak told The Express Tribune at the time of the motion’s submission. “The requisition for bringing a vote of no-confidence against Khattak is to stop the dissolution of the K-P Assembly,” he said.
The requisition was submitted by Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) Sikander Sharpao. The party was a former coalition partner, but decided to leave the K-P government after two of its cabinet members were dismissed on corruption charges.
However, more recently, opposition leaders hinted they would consider withdrawing the motion after mutual consultation.
The provincial assembly will meet today afternoon after a gap of about four months. The last time provincial lawmakers gathered was for the budget session in June.
During Thursday’s session, the house is expected to elect its deputy speaker, a position that fell vacant after the resignation of Imtiaz Shahid Qureshi, who is now the Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights in the provincial cabinet.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2014.
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JUI-F failed to get numbers thats why withdrawn it