Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Speculation of an in-house change in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly gained momentum on Monday after the KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak led a rally towards the capital for PTI’s planned siege of Islamabad.

In this connection, the Awami National Party (ANP) has started consultations with the leaders of other political parties to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government in the province. Sources said 28 MPAs had shown consent to sign a written deal in this regard.

Members of different political parties including the ANP, Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reportedly met on Monday and discussed political scenario in detail.

Pleading anonymity, a senior representative of the ANP said some of the lawmakers from the ruling party had nodded for making an attempt to topple the PTI-led government. He said some of the PTI lawmakers were against the planned siege of Islamabad and were of the opinion that instead of accusing the PML-N-led federal government, the party must resolve internal dispute.

However, source claimed that final decision in this regard would be taken in the next meeting to be held this week. He said all political parties would attend the meeting except the ruling PTI and its allies.

Moreover, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, during a public speech in Peshawar on Sunday, made a statement that the opposition parties might topple the PTI-led government whenever they wished to do so.

Apart from rumours of an in-house change, speculation of imposition of governor’s rule has also surfaced in the KP political arena. Sources claimed that the KP governor had also contacted with the central government to discuss possibility of imposition of governor rule in the province.

It may be mentioned here that the PTI has 60 seats in the provincial assembly including those reserved for women and minorities while JUI-F has 17, PML-N 16, QWP 10, JI 17, PPP 6 and ANP five seats making a total of 61.

So it is evident that any attempt to table a vote of no confidence against Khattak will be fruitless, added sources.