KARACHI – The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has expelled Senator Mian Ateeq from the party for voting in favour of an election bill paving the way for former premier Nawaz Sharif to head Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz again.
The opposition-dominated Senate passed the Election Bill, 2017 recently while defeating a Pakistan Peoples Party amendment that would have blocked a disqualified person from becoming the office-bearer of a political party with a mere one vote.
The legislation would not have sailed through the Upper House had Ateeq not voted in favour of the ruling party.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/senate-passes-election-bill-2017-with-majority-vote-paves-way-for-nawaz-sharif-to-regain-pml-n-chairmanship/
The decision to oust the head of MQM-P Punjab chapter was taken in a meeting chaired by party head Dr Farooq Sattar who on Sunday said that Mian Ateeq had committed a “grave mistake” which forced “us to take the extreme decision”.
The party also issued a show-cause notice to other senators for their absence from the Senate session which passed the key election bill.
Apart from MQM, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has also issued show-cause notices to two of the seven PTI senators – Nauman Wazir Khattak and Brig (retd) John Kenneth Williams – who were absent when the bill was put up for a vote in Senate.