Opposition uniting to topple NWFP govt - no trust motion?

Reza_Pahlavi · August 3, 2006, 8:25pm

The MMA only has a minority in the NWFP assembly, and should submit themselves to a confidence motion if they really believe in democracy.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\07\26\story_26-7-2006_pg7_1

No trust — NWFP Opp wasting time

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government in the NWFP is in danger but a “scattered and disorganised” opposition is wasting the opportunity to move a no-confidence motion against it, opposition sources said on Tuesday. However, other sources told Daily Times the opposition in the NWFP Assembly was working on a no-trust move. They said the opposition did not want to give details of the plan beforehand, as it would help the federal and the provincial MMA government exert pressure on each other to extract political concessions. The MMA’s strength in the NWFP assembly has weakened considerably since the Peshawar High Court reinstated six of its members accused of horse-trading in the Senate elections. The MMA had publicly disowned the members with provincial Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam saying: “There is no room for them in the religious alliance.”

In a house of 124 members, a party needs 63 members to form a government in the Frontier province. With the restoration of the six members who are no longer in the MMA and the existence of a ‘forward bloc’ within the religious alliance, its strength has been reduced to around 60. The PPP-S has 13 members in the NWFP Assembly, the PPPP has 11, the ANP 7, the PML 10 and the PML-N has 5. Besides, the opposition has the support of four independent members, former deputy speaker Ikramullah Shahid, MMA’s forward bloc members and the six reinstated members, the sources said. “We have been in contact with the reinstated MPAs. I don’t think they will tow the MMA line because the law minister publicly disowned them,” said Opposition Leader in the NWFP Assembly Shahzada Gustasap.

Gustasap said that the opposition would accept the members if they wanted to join it. “We (opposition) don’t have any intention to destabilise or topple the government. But if a situation comes to the point where we have to prove our majority, we’ll consider a no-confidence move with consensus,” he said. Some opposition members were against requisitioning the assembly session as they thought it was premature, sources said. MMA leaders have meanwhile dismissed suggestions that the MMA government might be in trouble. Law Minister Malik Zafar Azam claims to have the support of 79 members. He has challenged the opposition to attempt a no-confidence motion on a number of occasions. Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani made a similar statement on Tuesday, asking PML-N parliamentary leader Anwar Kamal Marwat to “go ahead and try your luck with five-six members” for a no-trust motion. Marwat said the opposition did not want to remove the MMA government. “We will not use the reinstated MPAs as tools to topple the government,” he said.

Reza_Pahlavi · August 9, 2006, 5:24pm

Re: Opposition uniting to topple NWFP govt - no trust motion?

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\08\09\story_9-8-2006_pg7_23

Reinstated MPAs say resignations are ‘bogus’

Speaker says resignations ‘genuine’

Five out of six members of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) reinstated by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), denied before the speaker on Tuesday that they had resigned from the assembly’s membership. These Muttahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) MPAs, one female and four males, said that the resignations were bogus, as they had not signed them. Rukhsana Raz, Yasmin Khalid, Gorsaran Lal, Maulana Dildar Ahmed, Raja Faisal Zaman and Malik Hayat were accused of being involved in horse-trading in the Senate elections and were expelled from the MMA. The MMA leadership had said that the expelled MPAs had tendered their resignations and the speaker referred their resignations to the Election Commission (EC), which unseated them. However, the expelled MPAs denied that they had resigned and moved the PHC, which reinstated them and referred the case to the NWFP Assembly speaker. “The five members appeared before me and I briefly heard them one by one and separately,” Speaker Bakht Jehan said in his chamber. He said that one of the female members, Yasmin Khalid, was sick and her husband presented a medical certificate and that she would be heard on August 15. Jehan said that an inquiry committee consisting of party leaders, who presented the reinstated MPAs’ resignations before him, would be heard today (Wednesday). The speaker said that the resignations were genuine. “I am satisfied,” he said. Since it was the order of the High Court, he would make further inquiries, Jehan said. Jehan denied to give details of the inquiry, terming them a ‘secret’. She said that they told the speaker the resignations were bogus. “We did not resign or sign anything,” she said. She said that they had asked the speaker to give the copies of the ‘bogus’ resignations and that the probe be held before the media to enable them (the media) to know who was right and who was wrong. She said that the reinstated MPAs had not yet decided whether to join the opposition or not.