JI, BAP, Independent will not quit assembly
Javed Khan
PESHAWAR
On Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’s call on en masse resignations from federal and provincial assemblies by December 31, at least 36 members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly are expected to use the option.
The overall strength of the opposition in the provincial assembly is nearly 44. Being in opposition but not a part of PDM, the two Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) lawmakers, according to JI sources, will not resign.
The JI lawmakers were elected on a platform of Mutihida Majlis Amal (MMA), a yesteryear alliance of rightwing parties that was revived ahead of 2018 polls. The rightwing parties, however, had failed to keep the alliance intact following the dismal performance in last general elections. Hence, the JI adopted its own independent course and attempted to challenge the government without becoming a part of joint opposition.
Two independent members of KP assembly, who sit on the opposition benches, are also said to be not using the resignation option. Moreover, four members of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) in KP Assembly, who are not part of PDM, will not expectedly not exercise the option of resignation.
Currently, the 145-member KP assembly has 44 opposition members.
At present, the Awami National Party (ANP) has 12 members, including Bahadur Khan, Faisal Zeb, Khushdal Khan, Laiq Mohammad Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Salahuddin Mohmand, Samar Haroon Bilour, Sardar Hussain Babak, Shagufta Malik, Shahida Waheed, Shakeel Bashir Umarzai and Waqar Ahmed.
The four members of JUI-F are Hafiz Islamuddin, Mohammad Riaz, Mohammad Shoaib and Naeema Kishwar.
Rehana Ismail, Shah Dad Khan and Malik Zafar Azam, 6 members of PML-N Jamshed Khan, Muhammad Naeem, Sardar and Aurangzeb Nalotha, Sardar Khan, Sardar Muhammad Yusuf and Sobia Shahid and 5 members of PPP Ahmad Kundi, Malik Badshah Saleh, Nighat Orakzai, Sahibzada Sanaullah will quit the assembly after the decision before 31 December.
Five members of the PML-N in the KP assembly have already taken the decision of resignation and had submitted their resignation with the provincial president.
However, the MPAs of ANP members have not submitted its resignation with the party chief.
Independent members in the assembly including Amjad Afridi and Mir Kalam Wazir, who are sitting on opposition benches, are also part of the opposition; however, they will not resign as per the PDM decision. While the other two independents, Ehtesham Javed and Faisal Zaman, are considered allies of the government.
Abbas-ur-Rehman, Basirat Khan, Bilawal Afridi and Shafiq Afridi are neither part of the government nor of the opposition so they will also be present in the house and Maulvi Obaid-ur-Rehman of PML-Q is an ally of the government.
The strength of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf (PTI) in KP Assembly is close to 94 and with the addition of allies, the PTI has a two-thirds majority in the house. With the overall strength of PDM constituent parties in KP, the resignations of opposition MPs will not have any significant impact on the provincial government enjoying a two-third majority in the assembly.
