ECP’s decision of de-seating 25 dissident members of PTI does not affect Punjab govt: Marriyum Aurangzeb
ISLAMABAD, May 20 (SABAH): Following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of de-seating 25 dissident members belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said the decision does not affect the Punjab government.
While addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID) along with Pakistan People’s Party leader Faisal Karim Kundi, the information minister criticised the PTI and said that the party Chairman Imran Khan was earlier hurling abuses at the commission and was asking his followers to attack its office, but now — after receiving a decision in his party’s favour — he is all praises for the ECP.
She emphasised that the decision was “only for the 25 dissident PTI members”. She said that the de-seating of these 25 members does not affect Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, elections, and the Punjab government as the allied parties already have the votes of 177 members.
Berating the former, PTI-led government, the PML-N leader said that “these are the people who want to cling on to power no matter how much they hurt the country’s situation”.
Marriyum Aurangzeb further said that the dissident members are those who showed a lack of confidence in their party’s decision and decided to vote for someone else, adding that the PTI’s defecting parliamentarians voted against Khan publicly.
The information minister went on to say that these members are eligible to cast their votes for the no-confidence motion. “They knew about the consequences and voted against their party and in favour of the nation,” she said.
She added that those 25 members have not been de-seated but their action is akin to a slap on Imran Khan’s face. “They have the right to challenge the ECP’s decision,” said the information minister.
Criticising the Imran Khan-led government, the PML-N leader further maintained that it “looted the nation for four years and benefitted the cartels and mafias.”
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that Imran Khan should be held accountable in the foreign-funding case and should also clarify the position of his wife’s friend, Farah Gogi, who has been accused of corruption. She added that the decision regarding the foreign-funding case should be announced within a day just, after which, a ban should be imposed on the PTI.
The information minister added that the people of Pakistan have rejected the PTI. “The PTI will not find anyone to give tickets to so that they could contest the elections in Punjab,” added the information minister.
Earlier, the ECP declared 25 dissident members of PTI de-seated while announcing its verdict in a case pertaining to the dissident members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs).
The ECP announced the unanimous verdict while accepting the reference against PTI dissidents who voted for Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif in the election of Punjab chief minister, sent by Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. “MPAs defected from the party by voting in favour of Hamza Shahbaz,” the ECP said in the verdict.