PESHAWAR: The Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) on Saturday issued separate show cause notices to its three members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly over a suspicion that they voted against the party candidates during the recent Senate elections.

Now, MPAs, including Bakht Baidar Khan, Sultan Mohammad Khan and Gohar Nawaz, will have to clarify their position on the matter in writing.

Read: QWP blames ‘N’ for Senate defeat

The party’s central executive committee will later examine the replies before deciding about their membership.

The notices were issued after party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao chaired a meeting here.

The QWP has 10 MPAs, including two women, but it failed to get a single seat in the recent Senate elections.

The Sherpao-led party has already blamed the PML-N for not reciprocating its support for its candidates.

Issues notices to Bakht Baidar, Sultan Mohammad, Gohar Nawaz asking for written explanation

A QWP leader told Dawn that Gohar Nawaz had informed the leadership before the Senate elections that he wouldn’t vote for party candidates.

He said Bakht Baidar Khan and Sultan Mohammad Khan were also under suspicion of voting against party candidates in the recent Senate polls.

The leader said show cause notices had been issued to the three lawmakers over the alleged breach of the party’s discipline.

He said the QWP leadership had made it clear that it won’t compromise principles and would do whatever was possible to clear doubts about the casting of votes by its lawmakers in the Senate elections.

When contacted, MPA Bakht Baidar Khan, who belongs to Chakdara area in Lower Dir district, said he was upset by the issuance of a show cause notice to him as the party leadership did so without hearing him.

“I’ve decided to abandon both the assembly seat and party membership over the leadership’s unilateral move against me though I’ve committed no crime and will do so on Monday (tomorrow),” he told Dawn over the telephone.

Bakht Baidar remained a provincial minister before the chief minister sacked him on the charge of corruption in November 2013.

He later took PTI chief Imran Khan to the court for asking Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who is also his party leader, for ending alliance with the QWP over corruption, which led to his removal from the cabinet along with another party lawmaker and minister, Ibrar Hussain Tanoli.

Bakht Baidar held the portfolio of labour and industries, while Ibrar Hussain, who belongs to Mansehra, was the minister for forests. The defamation case filed by Bakht Baidar against Imran Khan is still pending decision by the court.

MPA Sultan Mehmood, of Charsadda, and Gohar Nawaz, of Haripur, were not available for comments.

During the meeting, Sherpao said the party would actively take part in the coming local government elections in the province. He urged activists to prepare themselves for the local body polls in their respective areas, especially by mobilising sympathisers for the victory of the party’s candidates.

The QWP chief also issued directions for the completion of the party’s organisations in the areas, where intra-party elections have so far not taken place.

He also said the party would actively take part in the imminent Gilgit-Baltistan elections.

Sherpao said the party was striving to help Pakhtuns get due rights and that it would never abandon Pakhtuns, especially when they’re exposed to a host of issues and challenges.

“We have raised voice for the rights of Pakhtuns at all available forums and will continue doing so,” he said.

The QWP chief said the ruling PTI had miserably failed to fulfil its election promises and that its slogan of change had turned out to be a political trick to reach power corridors.

He said the provincial government had failed to begin a single mega project in the province during the last two years.

Sherpao said Pakhtuns faced a host of challenges, especially millions of internally displaced persons, who led a miserable life in camps.

Published in Dawn March 15th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play