PTI approaches LHC to de-seat of 25 dissident Punjab MPAs

Islamabad, April 27 (UNI) The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja to submit their responses by April 29 in connection to a reference to de-seat 25 dissident PTI lawmakers from the Punjab Assembly, Dawn reported.
PTI’s parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, Muhammad Sibtain Khan, had summitted the petition which was heard by Justice Shujaat Ali Khan.
The petition contended that under Article 63-A(1)(b)(i) of the Constitution, if any member of a parliamentary party votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which he belongs, in relation to the election of a prime minister or chief minister, he may be declared in writing by the party head to have defected from the political party, and the party head may forward a copy of the declaration to the presiding officer and the chief election commissioner and shall similarly forward a copy thereof to the member concerned.
Earlier this month, PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz won the election for Punjab chief minister, defeating PTI-PML-Q’s joint candidate, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. Hamza got 197 votes, including 26 from PTI dissidents, while Elahi did not get any as the PTI and PML-Q lawmakers claimed they were not allowed to vote.
Subsequently, Punjab Assembly Speaker Elahi sent a reference against the dissident MPAs to the ECP, urging it to declare them as defectors from the PTI since they had violated party discipline.
The petition filed in the LHC, stated that 25 lawmakers cast their votes in favour of the joint opposition’s candidate Hamza Shehbaz in violation of party directions.
These lawmakers were: Raja Sagheer Ahmad, Malik Ghulam Rasool Sanga, Saeed Akbar Khan, Muhammad Ajmal, Faisal Hayat, Mehr Muhammad Aslam, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Abdul Aleem Khan, Nazir Ahmad Chohan, Muhammad Amin Zulqarnain, Malik Nauman Langrial, Muhammad Salman, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Nazir Ahmad Khan, Fida Hussain, Zahra Batool, Muhammad Tahir, Ayesha Nawaz, Sajida Yousaf, Haroon Imran Gill, Uzma Kardar, Malik Asad Ali, Ijaz Masih, Muhammad Sibtain Raza and Mohsin Atta Khosa.
The 25 MPAs named in the petition had been issued directions by their party PTI but they had cast their votes for Hamza, it stated. Subsequently, the dissident MPAs had been issued show cause notices to explain their position but they had not replied, it added.