Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that dissident lawmakers of the ruling PTI will be compelled to return to the party in the face of public pressure.
"When I look at the the rising public anger as the date of the no-confidence motion nears, I feel most of these dissident lawmakers will return," he said during an address at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rawalpindi Ring road -- a 38.3-kilometre long project that comprises six lanes where an interchange will also be constructed. The ring road is aimed at helping ease traffic flow in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
PM Imran also repeated the party stance that the "no-confidence motion is a good thing for PTI" as it has forced the party into taking action while making opposition machinations clear to the people. We can now see that money is being used to compel people to change party loyalty, he said.
"A market has been set up for buying the conscience of lawmakers," he said, claiming that Sindh government funds were being used for the purpose.
PM Imran's remarks come hours after the PTI issued show-cause notices to 14 dissident lawmakers -- who were at the Sindh House in Islamabad - for allegedly allying with the opposition for the upcoming no-confidence motion.
A number of other dissident MNAs from the ruling PTI, who were staying at the Sindh House in Islamabad, recently came out in the open with Raja Riaz and Malik Nawab Sher Waseer saying they would vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in "accordance with their conscience."
As tensions rise, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had also said that his party and the Pakistan Democratic Party (PDM) will protect MNAs who are being threatened with violence and arrest if they take part in the no-confidence process against the prime minister.
In a tweet, the PPP leader had said that the lives, liberty, and families of MNAs are under threat.
"MNAs will take any and all means for their own protection against this fascist regime," he said.
"PPP and PDM will do all we can to protect them. We will not show all our cards now. More to come in the coming days. Out of respect of OIC conference, we don’t want anarchy in Islamabad. Government must not provoke us."
