MPAs take oath, Gandapur promises action against PTI dissidents

PESHAWAR: Governor Faisal Karim Kundi took oath from the 25 newly-elected MPAs who qualified to be the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly members after the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench accepted the review petitions filed by PML-N, PPP and ECP.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur vowed to take strict actions against the PTI dissents taking part in the July 21 Senate polls against the party line.

Earlier in the day, the Peshawar High Court nominated the governor to take oath from these MPAs after they moved the provincial top court against Speaker Babar Khan Swati did not take oath from them in a bid to sabotage the Senate polls.

It means the oath-taking ceremony took place at the Governor’s House.

In his reaction, Kundi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Speaker Babar Saleem Khan Swati violated by adjourning the session by not taking oath from the newly-elected lawmakers despite the court orders.

Read more: Speaker violated constitution, no-confidence may be next: Kundi

He also promised that the July 21 Senate polls would be held as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

GANDAPUR VS PTI DISSEDENTS

On the other hand, Gandapur told reporters that the party take action the dissidents taking part in the Senate polls, as serious differences have emerged in the PTI over the ticket distribution.

However, it is not clear who would take action given the fact that Junaid Akbar, the PTI provincial chapter president, and Gandapur are not on the same page.

In a clear sign of disagreement with the speaker, the chief minister mentioned that the MPAs were taking oath of court orders.

Gandapur said the reason behind the understanding reached with the opposition was to block the possibility of any horse-trading. “The decision reached [with the opposition] is that there shouldn’t be any horse-trading.”

However, he said that the arrangement was limited to the Senate polls only.

At the same time, the firebrand chief minister blasted the dissidents, saying that they were the reason the PTI would beg six instead of eight seats out of a total of 11.