ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has claimed that a number of opposition MNAs are presently staying at Sindh House to provide them security in the wake of threats by government ministers and the March 10 police raid on Parliament Lodges.

This admission came amid allegations by the government that the opposition had detained some ruling party lawmakers at Sindh House ahead of the vote on the no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan, and a statement by Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi that around a dozen MNAs belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had ‘gone missing’.

“Yes, the members of parliament are staying at Sindh House. Every member has a right to stay there. These members are from the opposition and our allies,” said PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi at a press conference along with the party’s information secretary MNA Shazia Marri here on Wednesday.

Mr Kundi claimed these MNAs had been kept there as they feared they could be kidnapped. After a minister’s statement that the opposition could face a suicide attack and the police raid on Parliament Lodges, a number of MNAs felt unsafe.

Shehbaz suggests national government minus PTI; Fazl claims govt has sent ‘probable defectors’ abroad

Earlier in the day, PM Khan claimed that opposition leaders were sitting in Sindh House with “heaps of money” to purchase loyalties of treasury lawmakers, asking the election commission to take action against the alleged horse-trading.

Ports and Shipping Minister Ali Zaidi had also tweeted that nearly 400 Special Security Unit personnel of the Sindh police had been deployed at the Sindh House to protect the “bags” of money to be used to “bribe” the PTI MNAs.

In the press conference, Ms Marri, however, claimed the members staying at the Sindh House belonged to the PPP as well as PML-N lawmakers from Punjab. She further advised the government to trace its members, who had ‘disappeared’ as they did not want to support PM Khan anymore.

However, it was not clear whether these individuals were staying at Sindh House of their own free will or had been asked to remain there by their parties.

In a counter-allegation, she said the government had instead detained some MNAs at the Banigala residence of PM Khan. She also refuted the PM’s “fake news” that PTI dissidents had been kept at the Sindh House.

However, it was not immediately clear whether these parliamentarians were there at the Sindh House of their own free will or were being detained.

In an interview to Samaa TV on Wednesday, Parvez Elahi had also suggested the ruling party look for its 12 MNAs, who were in “safe custody” and not being allowed to move around. “These MNAs will surface only on the voting day,” he claimed.

The PPP leaders asked the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of the government officials’ statements that they would not allow members to enter the Parliament House for voting on the no-confidence resolution. They also urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to take note of the repeated violations of its code of conduct.

In response to a question, Mr Kundi said the PPP had not yet decided about participating in the long march and public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement on March 25 though it had been extended a formal invitation for the rally.

Earlier, a PML-N delegation headed by Shehbaz held separate meetings with members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Balochistan Awami Party at the Parliament Lodges and discussed the options for future cooperation in the wake of success of the no-confidence motion.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif suggested formation of a national government without the PTI.

“A national government – without the PTI -- should be formed for the next five years,” he said during an interview to a Geo News programme, also clarifying this was his personal opinion.

In an interview to Hum News on Wednesday, Maulana Fazl said some PTI lawmakers who were suspected to defect on the day of voting on the no-trust move had been sent abroad on state expense, but claimed the joint opposition still had the support of around 190 lawmakers.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2022