ISLAMABAD: Ahead of the National Assembly session on no-confidence motion against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Thursday announced that matters had been settled with key government ally, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and that the ruling coalition member will vote in favour of the motion to oust Imran Khan, local media reported.
MQM-P is the largest ally of the ruling PTI coalition with seven members in the National Assembly.
"Talks have been held with the MQM today (Thursday) and matters have been settled. It is also possible that some ministers will also be with the opposition," PPP secretary general Farhatullah Babar told reporters outside Zardari House after the party's parliamentary party meeting, The Dawn reported.
MQM-P had demanded "share in jobs" as well as the opening of their party offices in Karachi and Hyderabad, the report said, citing sources, adding that the two sides had also agreed to form a committee to jointly suggest changes to the Sindh local government law.
Talking to a TV channel, MQM leader Waseem Akhtar said their demands and issues were related to the Sindh province and it was good that both Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had agreed to most of them. He said they also had had a good meeting with the government's teams on Wednesday.
In a rapidly developing situation ahead of the crucial National Assembly session today, Opposition leaders also began speculations on the post-Imran Khan scenario.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached the official residence of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif where they were also joined by Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Later, in an interview, Rehman said that the joint opposition had yet to decide on several matters ahead of the no-confidence motion.
Asked about speculations that Shehbaz Sharif had been picked as the opposition's choice for the premiership after Imran Khan's ouster, Rehman said: "We will decide on all matters after the success of the no-trust move."
The Pakistani National Assembly has a total strength of 342 members, with the majority mark being 172. The PTI led coalition was formed with the support of 179 members, with Imran Khan's PTI having 155 members, and four major allies MQM-P, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) having seven, five, five and three members respectively.
Imran Khan's situation is precarious given that three of the four allies, that is, MQM-P, PML-Q and BAP have stated their support for the Opposition's no-confidence motion and said that they will vote accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday imposed a fine of Pakistani Rupees 50,000 on Imran for the third time for violation of the code of conduct during the second phase of the local government polls, local media reported.
ECP also imposed a fine of Pakistani Rs 50,000 each on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and three other holders of public offices for addressing a public meeting in Malakand in violation of the code of conduct, Dawn newspaper reported.
Imran Khan and others had addressed the rally in Malakand on March 20 despite the ECP's letters addressed to them, asking them to refrain from doing so.
According to the Pakistani newspaper, Malakand's district monitoring officer (DMO) Ziaur Rehman issued five separate orders, directing the prime minister, chief minister, federal ministers Murad Saeed and Ali Haider Zaidi and provincial minister Shakeel Khan to deposit the fine till March 27.
Rehman stated that under Section 234(5) of the Elections Act, 2017 the prime minister and the four other functionaries had the right to file an appeal before the ECP within three days of the order, Dawn newspaper reported.
Earlier, Prime Minister Khan was fined Pakistani Rs 50,000 each for addressing public meetings in Lower Dir and Swat.
Meanwhile, the crucial session of the Pakistan National Assembly will begin on Friday in which the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan will be moved.
According to the National Assembly Secretariat, the house will meet at 11 am, with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair, reported the Express Tribune.
Notably, acting on mutual hatred to oust Imran Khan, the Opposition parties submitted the no-confidence motion in National Assembly on March 8.