Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday ordered top party officials to devise a plan for dealing with dissidents who have not responded to the show-cause summons sent more than a week ago.
Dissidents of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who had received show-cause letters from the party, had blatantly disregarded the party’s rules notwithstanding the notifications.
While publicly showing their support for a no-confidence motion brought by both parties, it became clear that their only choice was to take further action, which may include submitting a referral against the deviants to Pakistan’s independent election commission (ECP).
Senior PTI leader Amir Mahmood Kayani and Babar Awan met with Prime Minister Imran Khan to discuss how to handle opposing members of the party.
It has been reported that an article 63-A notice has been finalised and will be sent to the involved MNAs, according to reliable sources.
A member of the National Assembly who deviates from party policy published by the leader of the parliamentary party shall give up their seat under Article 63-A of the Constitution.
Dissidents have been given till noon on April 1 to make their case to the PM. To be pardoned, they must comply. Those members who fail to meet the PTI’s standards will face “severe consequences,” the party said in a statement.
The Speaker of the Assembly will receive official complaints against MNAs who have publicly departed from party policy. Under Article 63-A of the Constitution, the PTI intends to declare the seats of dissident members void.
The unhappy MPs replied on March 26 by angrily denouncing the claims as “baseless and inaccurate,” days after PTI issued a show-cause summons to 13 of its members on grounds of suspected defection.
PTI MPs who publicly voiced their displeasure with Prime Minister Imran Khan were summoned to the Sindh House, where they were met with a stern reaction from the governing party.
A week after the PTI requested the legislators to explain why they seemed to be on the verge of resigning from the party, none of them did so.
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