July 09, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 5, 1429

ISLAMABAD, July 8: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q expelled MNA Kashmala Tariq from the party on Tuesday and also deprived her of her seat in the National Assembly. A PML-Q press release said that a formal notice had been sent to Ms Kashmala.

Election Commission Secretary Kunwar Dilshad told Dawn that the president could nominate a person for parliament’s membership and could also strip “the member of his or her seat, but the action will have to go through the constitutional procedure of sending a reference to the speaker who will accept the same and forward it to the election commission for election on the vacant seat”.

The press release said: “PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain expelled MNA Kashmala Tariq from the party on account of violation of rules and regulations and unremitting criticism.”

Chaudhry Shujaat has also summoned a meeting of the party’s central executive committee in Islamabad on July 12 to discuss the overall political situation and differences within the party on policy issues.

Ms Kashmala is reported to have decided not to respond to journalists’ questions and her cell phone remained switched off on Tuesday. This is probably the first case of expulsion of a PML-Q legislator for violating party discipline and is seen by observers as a warning to other dissidents.

Kashmala Tariq has remained in the news since her election for the second term on a reserved seat, because of her differences with the party leadership on several important issues.

She criticised the party leadership for nominating Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat as parliamentary leader and Riaz Pirzada as chief whip and said that the decision had been taken without consultations.

On several occasions, she clashed with Faisal Saleh Hayat and the matter was brought to the notice of the party high command.

She was also accused of trying to create a ‘forward bloc’ in the party.

Initially, she was asked by the leadership to avoid speaking against party decisions and stop working against the party’s interests.