PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan said the KP Assembly’s future hinges on a crucial meeting between the ruling PTI and its coalition members on Thursday.

The meeting, which is to be held at the CM House, will make clear whether the provincial assembly will be dissolved, said the PTI chief in a press conference on Wednesday.

Mr. Khan said he will not bear horse trading and those MPs who do not vote on party lines in the upcoming Senate elections on Friday will be dealt with strictly.

The PTI chief said if a majority does not vote for the party’s nominated candidate, he will have no option but to dissolve the KP assembly.

He maintained his opposition to secret balloting and said elections for the Upper House should also be conducted directly. “PTI members will vote only for government and its coalition nominees,” Khan said.

Imran Khan also criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for laying down the foundations of horse trading in Pakistan’s politics.

Senate polls and horse-trading

With the Senate polls approaching, the issue of horse-trading has been debated heatedly in the past few weeks. The KP Assembly, in particular, passed a unanimous resolution against the use of money to buy votes in Senate election.

There were even talks of a 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, whereby Senate polls would have taken place by show of hands instead of secret ballots. The proposition was also backed by PML-N in addition to the PTI and its coalition members. But the government was unable to gather enough support from other political parties to table the bill.

In such a scenario, there are fears that some MPs may deviate from party lines and not vote for their party's nominated candidates in the upcoming Senate election.