By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expelled five National Assembly members for defying party orders and backing the controversial 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill last August, a disciplinary action that carries more symbolic weight than legal consequence, as all five lawmakers contested the 2024 elections as independents and are unlikely to lose their seats under defection rules.
The expulsions, which announced on Sunday, underscore the deepening rifts within Pakistan’s opposition as it navigates internal dissent over a judicial reform that has stirred fierce debate.
The Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024, dubbed the Constitutional Package, fundamentally alters Pakistan’s judicial framework. The law eliminates the Supreme Court’s suo motu powers, its ability to take up cases on its own initiative, sets a three-year term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), and empowers the prime minister to appoint the next CJP from among the three most senior Supreme Court judges.
Passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate in October last year, the bill was signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, paving the way for a new constitutional bench.
The five expelled MNAs, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi (NA-159, Vehari IV), Muhammad Ilyas Choudhry (NA-62, Gujrat I), Usman Ali (NA-142, Sahiwal II), Mubarak Zeb Khan (NA-8, Bajaur), and Zahoor Hussain Qureshi (NA-146, Khanewal III), were ousted after voting for the amendment, a decision that clashed with PTI’s official stance. Expulsion notices, dated July 12, detailed the party’s disciplinary action, which followed months of deliberation
The PTI had made its position clear well before the vote. During a parliamentary party meeting in Islamabad on September 2, 2024, members unanimously resolved to oppose the proposed amendments.
“[It] was unanimously resolved that [the] PTI parliamentary party will not support the proposed amendments [to] the Constitution and will oppose the bill when it is moved in the National Assembly or is put to voting at any stage,” the expulsion notice stated.
Yet, when the bill came to a vote in October, the five MNAs broke ranks, supporting the legislation that PTI leaders decried as an assault on judicial independence. “You voted in favour of the bill and, therefore, you violated the directions and instructions of the PTI parliamentary party [that] were binding on you as a parliamentarian,” the notice read, emphasizing that the lawmakers had won their seats in the February 8 general elections with PTI’s backing and had sworn loyalty to the party.
“You had taken oath that you would follow instructions of [the] PTI and that you would stand loyal to the party.”
Last October, PTI announced plans to take legal action against the dissenting lawmakers. Show-cause notices were issued in November, demanding the MNAs prove they had not defected. None responded, and subsequent personal hearings yielded no explanations or defences, according to the expulsion documents.
The notices also revealed shifting allegiances. Two lawmakers, Khichi and Mubarak Zeb, were singled out for joining the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the ruling party. The other three, Choudhry, Ali, and Qureshi, were noted for sitting on the treasury benches and attending meetings of the ruling coalition.
“Thus, you having voted in favour of the 26th Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 2024, have violated the party’s instructions and directions which were binding on you,” the notice declared. “You have acted contrary to the instructions of the party … and joined another parliamentary party in the National Assembly. You are therefore expelled from the party (PTI) forthwith… Needless to add that you also stand disqualified on account of aforesaid conduct.”
A separate declaration from PTI provided further context. The lawmakers, it said, had been elected as PTI nominees and took their seats on the opposition benches after the February 8 polls, pledging allegiance to the party.
Khichi faced particular censure. He not only joined PML-N’s parliamentary party but also assumed the role of Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Division, rendering him “liable to disqualification as well,” the declaration noted.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed the expulsions by sharing the termination notice on X, signaling the party’s resolve to enforce discipline.
The 26th Amendment’s passage was a hard-fought victory for the ruling coalition. With 211 seats in the National Assembly, the treasury benches needed 224 votes to secure the two-thirds majority required for constitutional changes.
Support from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) boosted their tally to 219, but it was the votes of PTI-backed independents, Zahoor, Khichi, Ali, and Mubarak Zeb, along with Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Chaudhry Ilyas, that tipped the scales. The opposition, led by PTI, staged protests, calling the reforms an attempt to muzzle the judiciary.
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