ISLAMABAD: Eight members of the National Assembly (MNAs) belonging to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are ready to quit the party and back the opposition considered a no-confidence movement against Prime Minister Imran Khan, media reported, citing informed sources.
They said these MNAs would contest the next election on a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket.
Sources claimed that the lawmakers include Nasrullah Ghuman, Asim Nazeer, Nawab Sher Wassan, Raja Riaz, Riyaz Fatyana, Khurram Shehzad, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, and Ghulam Mohammad Lali.
It is expected that the opposition will submit a no-trust motion against the premier in the first half of March.
The opposition parties have also been trying to woo the government’s allies – the PML-Q and MQM-P. The PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F have been holding discussions among themselves as well as reaching out to the coalition partners of the ruling party, hoping that they would support the opposition when needed.
The government spokespersons, however, appear confident, saying the opposition will fail against the government and the prime minister will complete his constitutional tenure.
In the latest development, sources said that the opposition has finalized its strategy to summon the National Assembly (NA) sitting in order to move non-confidence movement against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
They said that a requisition for NA session would be submitted to Speaker Asad Qaisar in the first week of March, while the nine-member opposition committee had decided to ask the speaker to summon the NA meeting soon, but a final date has yet to be decided after consulting with senior opposition leaders.
The sources further said that the opposition committee has rejected the stance of the speaker that NA hall would not be available because of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, saying that the session could be held in the senate hall or any other venue including the Conventional Hall.
