In a bid to thwart the opposition’s no-trust move, the PTI political committee meeting, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday, decided that Islamabad’s Sindh House will not be allowed to turn into a horse-trading hub. Sindh House is in the news after a federal minister accused the PPP of using the building for its nefarious designs.
On March 14, Federal Minister Ali Zaidi had claimed that the PPP had deployed additional SSU commandos at the building “to protect the bags of looted wealth #ZardariMafia brought to try & bribe our MNAs!” Following up on his statement, the PTI minister also wrote a letter to Secretary Establishment demanding an immediate inquiry against the SSU Sindh DIG Maqsood Memon, says a news report quoting sources.
The meeting decided to strictly monitor the lawmakers and Sindh House to ensure that no one falls prey to horse-trading. Civilian intelligence agencies were directed to closely observe the location, mobile phone data and the movement of lawmakers, and report to the premier on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Premier Imran Khan tasked Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak with wooing disgruntled lawmakers of the ruling PTI. The meeting also agreed to call the National Assembly session on March 21 and empowered the premier to take the final decision in this regard. A legal team briefed the meeting on convening the NA session for voting on the no-trust motion against the premier. Ahead of the voting on the no-trust motion, the meeting suggested the prime minister to call in a parliamentary party meeting of the PTI to identify the defiant and “missing” lawmakers of the party. On Thursday, dozens of dissident MNAs from the ruling PTI came out in the open on Thursday and were found staying at the Sindh House in Islamabad, with Raja Riaz and Malik Nawab Sher Wazeer saying they would vote in favour of the no-confidence motion tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan in accordance with their conscience.
TV footage showed several other PTI lawmakers – including MNAs Noor Alam Khan and Basit Bukhari – staying at the facility, giving a clear indication which side they were tilting towards in the upcoming vote that will decide the fate of the prime minister.
