‘Sindh House’ puts PTI govt in an ugly quandary

ISLAMABAD: Around 24 disgruntled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) came out in the open on Thursday as they were found staying at the Sindh House in Islamabad, with Raja Riaz and Nawab Sher saying they would vote on the no-confidence resolution against the prime minister in “accordance with their conscience”. The PTI disgruntled members moved to Sindh House, Islamabad after an operation was carried out by police personnel against the presence of Ansarul Islam of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) in Parliament Lodges. Both the doors of Sindh House have been completely closed.

Some disgruntled MNAs of ruling PTI said while talking to a private TV channel that they are feeling insecure in the Parliament Lodges so they shifted to the Sindh House, Islamabad.

The PTI MNAs who are staying in Sindh House are Sayed Basit Ahmad Sultan – NA-185 Muzaffargarh, Raja Riaz Ahmad – NA-110 Faisalabad, Nawab Sher– NA 102 Faisalabad, Noor Alam Khan – NA-27 Peshawar, Ahmed Hussain Deharr – NA-154 Multan, Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon – NA-159 Multan, Muhammad Abdul Ghafar Wattoo – NA-166 Bahawalnagar, Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari – NA-195 Rajanpur, Khawja Sheraz Mehmood – NA-189 DG Khan, Wajeeha Qamar, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Nuzhat Pathan, and others.

Sources added that a list containing the names of the MNAs staying at the Sindh House has been sent to PM Imran Khan.

As tensions rise, PTI's MNA asks Sindh govt to provide security

Raja Raiz, who is a member of the Jahangir Tareen group, said that there were around about 24 PTI lawmakers staying at the Sindh House, citing fears of government action against them similar to the March 10 raid by police on the Parliament Lodges.

He said that if the prime minister gave the guarantee that no police action would be taken against the MNAs irrespective of their decision regarding the vote, he was ready to move to Parliament Lodges from the Sindh House.

Answering a question, he said, “no one has given us any money. God willing, we will give our vote based on our conscience. We are not afraid of anyone. We are here only as a precautionary measure.”

PTI MNA Ramesh Kumar, who is also present inside the Sindh House along with other disgruntled members claimed that three federal ministers have already parted their ways with the ruling PTI.

Kumar said that he has always pointed out the wrongdoings. “Some PTI leaders telephoned my wife in the Parliament Lodges and called me a mule,” he said.

Noor Alam Khan, while regretting the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan about horse trading said that he had been raising voice against corruption, inflation and load shedding for the past three years.

MNA Basit Bukhari said that he never asked for any minister-ship. “I was elected to the National Assembly as an independent candidate,” he said.

Nawab Sher said that that he would hug Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while going to cast his vote. “What can they expect from us when they would call us mules and horses,” he asked and added a politician shouldn’t use such language.

“We will not contest next election on PTI’s ticket,” he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022