Speaker hesitant to convene KP Assembly amid PTI lawmakers’ dissent

PESHAWAR/MANSEHRA: Following the emergence of a dissident group of lawmakers within the ruling PTI, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati seems reluctant to hold an assembly session, apparently fearing criticism against the provincial government by the party’s own MPAs over the question of Imran Khan’s continued imprisonment. Reports of rifts within the PTI emerged soon after the induction of new ministers, advisers and special assistants – who took oath on May 22. It is understood that some of the MPAs in question are unhappy after not being included in the provincial cabinet. The last sitting of the KP Assembly was held on May 18, which was adjourned by the chair till June 1. However, the house did not meet on the scheduled date, as the speaker first postponed it to June 8. The latest notification issued by the assembly secretariat on Sunday said that the sitting would now be held on Monday, June 15 at 2pm. One of the dissidents told Dawn that there were initially 25 of them, but the number had now risen to 30 over the past couple of days. The lawmaker was unwilling to name them, as that would expose them to pressure from the party and the chief minister to withdraw from their stance. “The four to five dissident lawmakers who can tolerate the pressure are known to everyone,” he said. MPA Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, who is also among the dissidents, told Dawn that they have their own grievances and political stance, which would be presented on the floor of the house. He said that during a recent meeting, he had informed Speaker Swati that they were not a dissident group; they wanted a clear-cut announcement by the chief minister on plans for Imran Khan’s release. “We don’t need any incentives; our one-point agenda is the decisive movement for the release of Imran Khan,” Ghani told Dawn. He said that their other demands included arranging a meeting of party leaders and relatives with Imran Khan, providing him medical treatment through doctors of his choice