PESHAWAR: As a sword of Damocles hangs over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in light of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership’s recent statements, senior government officials have started to examine the relevant articles of the Constitution to prepare themselves for any eventuality.

Imran Khan’s repeated statements about the dissolution of the assembly have not only perturbed his own party’s lawmakers and coalition partners but have also confused the opposition parties as well as the officials of the assembly’s secretariat.

The opposition parties in the assembly have started deliberations to foil attempt of the ruling party to dissolve the assembly, which will complete its constitutional tenure in May 2018.

The sources said senior officials in the secretariat had started dusting off constitutional documents to get ready for the situation in case Chief Minister Pervez Khattak went for dissolution of the assembly.

Official says CM can’t dismiss assembly if session called for no-confidence motion

“The secretariat has to prepare itself for the situation if the chief minister advises the governor to wrap up the assembly or the opposition files requisition for summoning and submits notice for tabling no confidence against chief minister to prevent him from dissolving the assembly,” said a senior official.

Under the relevant rules of business, he said the chief minister can send advice to the governor through law department to dissolve the assembly and in such circumstances, the opposition could do nothing to block the chief minister’s move.

“If the opposition submits requisition and notice for tabling no confidence motion against leader of the House simultaneously to prove majority, then the chief minister can’t send advice to the governor for dissolving the assembly,” the official said.

Uncertainty created by Imran Khan through his rhetoric has also forced Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to end speculations about the dissolution of the assembly.

Although he may have dismissed any speculations about dissolving the assembly and blamed media for creating such speculations, he told his close circles that he had no intention of dissolving the assembly.

This is something quite contrary to the PTI chairman’s stand.

“I don’t want to go down in the history as a chief minister, who dissolved the provincial assembly,” a source quoted Pervez Khattak as saying.

The chief minister, according to the source, had informed Imran Khan that he would never go for dissolution of the assembly.

“I told Imran that he has to give reasons in writing to the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to give some solid reasons for the dissolution of assembly,” said the source, “I have to record whether his government was not functioning or he had lost majority in the House.”

Jamaat-i-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan; two coalition partners of PTI are also not happy with the statements of Imran Khan. Both parties have already distanced itself from PTI’s ‘Azadi March’ to be held in Islamabad on August 14.

A leader of the JI expressed serious reservations over Imran’s statements and termed it immature and apolitical approach of Imran Khan.

He said the PTI never took coalition partners into confidence on important issues.

One member of the pressure group in PTI said Imran Khan would come under pressure if the party’s parliamentarians resigned from the National Assembly but the provincial assembly was not dissolved.

“It will be hard for Imran Khan to sustain the pressure if his party’s members tender resignations from the National Assembly and the provincial government is protected,” he said.

He said there were no chances of the party MPAs resisting Imran Khan’s decision on resignations from the assembly.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2014