LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) will send a reference against some 20 lawmakers in Punjab to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on charges of floor-crossing.
The reference would be handed over by the chief whip of the party, Abbas Ali Shah, to Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
“After speaker’s approval, the reference will be sent to the ECP where the commission is bound to decide on it within a month,” a report said.
Defecting PTI lawmakers who voted in favour of Hamza Shehbaz for the chief minister’s election included Abdul Aleem Khan, Asad Khokhar, Nauman Langrial, Ejaz Alam Augustine, Ajmal Cheema, Saeed Akbar, Faisal Jawana, Zawar Warraich, among others.
The reference will, however, not be applicable to independents Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ahmed Ali, Jugnu Mohsin, Bilal Asghar Warraich and Raja Sagheer.
Meanwhile, the PML-N has decided against giving them any government post or ministry in the provincial cabinet following the development.
It is pertinent to mention here that Shehbaz was elected Punjab chief minister during a Punjab Assembly session that saw unprecedented violence resulting in attacks on Speaker Elahi and Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari.
Defecting lawmakers of the PTI, who were part of the Jahangir Tareen and Aleem Khan groups, played a key part in the election of the PML-N leader.
