LAHORE, Nov 17: PPP defectors are sure to be unseated under the Thirteenth Amendment which cannot be challenged in any court or forum, says known lawyer Latif Khosa.
Talking to newsmen at an Iftar party hosted by Punjab PPP president and MPA-elect Qasim Zia here on Sunday, Mr Khosa said all PPP candidates had contested the Oct 10 polls under an agreement on party’s election symbol.
This agreement, he said, had constitutional cover in the form of Thirteenth Amendment, which was passed by the last National Assembly with an overwhelming majority.
He, however, admitted that disciplinary action against defectors would not be possible immediately, as the part of Constitution restored by Gen Pervez Musharraf so far did not include the defection clause. However, he warned the rebels that the general could not provide them a permanent guarantee against the clause.
He believed that the government had befooled the dissidents just to muster support in elections for offices of prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly and would unseat them as soon as the defection clause came into force.
Under the clause, Mr Khosa said no MNA or senator could deliver a speech or cast a vote against his party policy. If one does so, the parliamentary leader could refer his case to the party’s disciplinary committee which would issue a notice to the MNA/senator concerned and prepare a report after hearing his stance.
On committee’s report, the parliamentary leader would write to the NA speaker/Senate chairman for unseating the member concerned. The speaker/chairman is bound to forward the case to the chief election commissioner (CEC) within two days. The CEC would complete all formalities for unseating the MNA/senator concerned within 14 days and announce election schedule for the vacated seat, Mr Khosa said.
He claimed that disciplinary committee’s decision, whether fair or unfair, could not be challenged anywhere. The speaker or the CEC did not have the authority to withhold the unseating process at any stage, he added. “Only the party concerned is authorized to decide whether an MP is loyal to it or not.”
He criticized the military government’s “introducing horse-trading rather than a true democracy”.
Khalid Kharal, Altaf Qureshi, Naveed Chaudhry and other PPP leaders were also present on the occasion.