ISLAMABAD: In an unp­re­cedented move, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has initiated disciplinary action against one-third of party lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for allegedly selling their votes in the Senate elections last month.

The names of 20 lawmakers, including half a dozen women, “found involved” in allegedly receiving millions of rupees to vote for candidates of other parties during an investigation of the PTI’s special committee were announced by Mr Khan himself at a news conference at his Banigala residence on Wednesday.

A number of lawmakers denied the charge and said they would take up the matter with the leadership whose act had damaged their reputation. MPA Faisal Zaman from Haripur told Dawn that no investigation team had ever contacted him and he came to know about the charge against him through the media.

Mr Khan, however, said they had tracked down the MPAs by observing the voting pattern in the Senate elections. He said the PTI would issue show-cause notices to them before formally sacking them and sending their cases to the National Accountability Bur­eau where evidence against them would be presented.

Imran says evidence will be given to NAB against party’s 20 MPAs allegedly involved in horse-trading in Senate polls

“We are taking this decision despite knowing that it will damage the party as the elections are round the corner,” he added.

Accompanied by PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Mr Khan said that the PTI by expelling nearly 30 per cent of its members would protect the sanctity of the vote in its true sense and set an example for others.

Mr Khan alleged that this was not for the first time that lawmakers had minted money in the Senate elections. “This has been happening for the past 30 or 40 years,” he added.

The PTI chief regretted that his party’s proposal to change the mode of Senate elections was ignored by other political parties in parliament. He alleged that some of the MPAs had received up to Rs40 million each. He lauded those party members who “resis­ted the temptation” and refused to sell their votes.

He did not give a categorical reply when asked to identify those who had allegedly paid money to the lawmakers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. He said they had carried out their own investigation and it was up to the other parties to do the same. He said he also knew the names of the other party lawmakers who had sold their votes, but their names might be released at some later stage.

About the leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Mr Khan said that as a NAB reference against Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz was near conclusion, they should not have been allowed to leave the country.

According to the PTI, the names of the lawmakers elected on seats reserved for women on a PTI ticket against who the party has initiated disciplinary action are Naseem Hayat, Nargis Ali, Deena Naz, Khatoon Bibi, Nagina Khan and Fouzia Bibi. Ms Naz had already quit the PTI before formally joining the Pakistan Peoples Party last week.

Others facing action are Sardar Idrees from Abbottabad; Ubaid Mayar and Zahid Durrani from Mardan; Arif Yousuf, Javed Nasim and Yaseen Khalil from Peshawar; Abdul Haq (Kohistan); Qurban Khan (Nowshera); Amjad Afridi (Kohat); Faisal Zaman (Haripur); Sami Alizai (D.I. Khan); Meraj Humayun (elected on a reserved seat on the ticket of Qaumi Watan Party); Babar Saleem (Swabi) and Wajihuz Zaman (Mansehra).

Talking to Dawn, the provincial lawmaker from Haripur Faisal Zaman denied the allegation that he had violated the party discipline by selling his vote in the Senate elections. He said that he had come to know about his name through the media only, as no investigation team had ever contacted him. He said he was “totally disturbed” after seeing his name on the list of those who had indulged in horse-trading.

He said he would seek an appointment with the party chairman to clarify his position. “I cannot even think of deviating from party line,” the lawmaker said, adding that so far he had not received any notice from the party.

Similarly, a number of other legislators who had been named by Mr Khan had denied the charges that they had received money during the Senate elections. In interviews on different TV channels, they said they would take up the matter with the PTI leadership as their reputation had been damaged by this act of the party chief.

After the March 12 Senate elections, almost all the parties had accused each other of indulging in horse-trading. Expressing surprise over the victory of two PPP senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where it had only six seats, the PTI was the first party to have announced that it would take action against the MPAs who had “sold their votes”.

‘Scapegoats to hide corruption’

PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari termed Mr Khan’s news conference “a complete political gimmick”. He said Mr Khan was looking for scapegoats to hide his own corruption in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Corruption is rampant in the PTI and its members have been accusing the party of corruption in the intra-party elections,” he said.

“The Imran Khan show has ended in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and he knows that the PTI will be routed in the province so he is busy in gimmickry,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2018