ISLAMABAD: Federal government on Thursday said that following the video of dissident PTI lawmakers have come to the fore, there is no doubt that they have left the party.
The announcement came hours after dozens of PTI MNAs openly dissenting and found staying at Sindh House in a clear indication that they would go against their party in the upcoming no-trust move.
Addressing the media, Planning Minister and PTI secretary-general Asad Umar said that despite provocations, Prime Minister Imran Khan would pursue a path of upholding the Constitution and law and not to indulge in the politics of ‘horse-trading, blackmail and bribes’. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan could also throw money at opposition lawmakers but would not do so.
“Imran Khan does not do politics for himself but for the nation. There is no personal interest of his and that is why he neither blackmails anyone not gets blackmailed,” said Asad Umar, flanked by Energy Minister Hammad Azhar and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.
“He has never done this sort of politics and will never do it in the future. Nobody should have any doubt that PTI will fight till the end but the only difference is that what we will do will be within the ambit of law and Constitution.
“We will not do any thing illegal,” he said and added, “The entire nation is seeing that they (the opposition) only use the name of democracy under the garb of which they mean to do business.”
Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said: “The nation saw that this is the system against which Imran Khan took a stand. This is the system of horse trading, bribery, and auctions to the tune of 200m and 400m.
“We want to make it clear that we will not do any deals and will not disburse ministries to stay in power. We will remain engaged with our allies but there will be no wheeling and dealing.”
Earlier in the day, dissenting PTI MNAs Raja Riaz and Malik Nawab Sher Waseer had said that they would vote on the no-confidence motion tabled against Prime Minister Imran Khan in “accordance with their conscience”.
Commenting on that remark, Azhar said: “This is not the voice of their conscience but [rather the voice of] money.”
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI rejected the politics of “blackmailing and wheeling dealing because of the promise we made to our people”.
“This is the business model of Zardari: invest, come in government and take money. Now it is obligatory to reject this decade of darkness and rise in support of Imran Khan.
“Our workers are angry. I ask them not to take law into their hands but ‘protest is your right.'”
He said his party has already initiated legal proceedings on the matter, saying that “as per Article 63A 1, if a party leader come to a conclusion that a member of his party has left, then he can move a reference for their disqualification.”
