Screengrab of a press conference with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan
Resolution unlikely to succeed as ruling PTI is single-largest party in provincial assembly with 94 of 145 seats
Opposition parties in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday submitted a notice for a no-confidence motion against Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, seemingly to prevent the government from dissolving the provincial assembly as it did the National Assembly earlier this week.
“We beg to move that leave may be granted under sub-rule (1) of rule 18D of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules to move a resolution of no-confidence against the Chief Minister under Article 136 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” read the motion submitted to the assembly secretariat. “Whereas Mr. Mahmood Khan has ceased to command the confidence of the majority of the members of this assembly as the chief minister, it is hereby resolved that Mr. Mahmoood Khan shall stand ceased to hold the said office,” it added.
The notice was submitted by Sardar Hussain Babak, Khushdil Khan and Shagufta Malik of the Awami National Party (ANP); Nighat Orakzai of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Mian Nisar Gul; and Balochistan Awami Party’s Bilawal Afridi. It carried the signatures of 36 lawmakers of the joint opposition, including 17 of the MMA, 12 of the ANP, six of the PPP and one of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Unlike the National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly, the no-confidence motion against Mahmood Khan is unlikely to succeed, as the opposition has significantly fewer members in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa than elsewhere. The PTI is the single largest party in the 145-member house with 94 members, while the total strength of the opposition is 51.
Responding to the opposition’s move, PTI’s chief whip in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Shaukat Yousafzai issued a video statement to media in which he described it as a joke. “How 51 members of the opposition will defeat the ruling party having support of 94 members,” he said, adding that the PTI would not allow horse-trading in the province. “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the strong castle of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he added.