Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the Punjab assembly will not be dissolved despite the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling against the dissident Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) members of the Punjab Assembly.

PTI was hurling abuses at the election commission and was demanding resignation from Election Commission Chief Sikandar Sultan Raja, but now after the election commission ruled in PTI’s favour, they are praising the institution, she said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the ECP de-seated 25 dissident PTI MPAs who voted for PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz for Punjab chief minister, stating that they had defected from the party.

The electoral body was hearing a reference filed by Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi against the dissident lawmakers.

In today’s presser, Aurangzeb said that PML-N’s government in Punjab was not affected after the ECP de-seated the dissident PTI MPAs as the allied parties already have the votes of 177 members.

She emphasised that the decision was “only for the 25 dissident PTI members”.

She said that the dissident members had not received any party direction, however, she said that they have the right to challenge the decision.

Aurangzeb said that the dissident members were those who showed a lack of confidence in their party’s decision and decided to vote for someone else.

Lashing out at the Imran Khan-led government, the information minister said that they “looted the nation for four years.”

Taking a jibe at PTI Chairperson Imran Khan, Aurangzeb said that he should be held accountable in the foreign-funding case and should also clarify the position of his wife’s friend, Farah Gogi, who has been accused of corruption.