Pakistan: Imran Khan orders expulsion of party leaders absent during vote on 26th Constitutional Amendment

Islamabad [Pakistan], February 16 : Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan has ordered the expulsion of party members who were not present during the vote on the 26th Constitutional Amendment, except Zain Qureshi, The Express Tribune reported.
Imran Khan ordered the senior leadership to issue formal notifications expelling PTI members absent during the voting except Zain Qureshi. He has made it clear that those who were not present on a crucial constitutional amendment vote have no place in PTI.
PTI founder also sent a message to the party's senior leadership, calling for action against the members who were absent without delay. Imran Khan-founded party has started issuing show-cause notices to those who did not participate during the voting.
Zarqa Suharwardy, Senator Faisal Saleem, and Zain Qureshi were among the lawmakers who were not present during the day of the amendment vote, The Express Tribune reported, citing PTI sources. PTI has already issued show-cause notice to Aslam Ghumman, Miqdar Ali Khan, Riaz Fatyana, Zain Qureshi, and Aurangzeb Kachhi.
In addition, the party leadership was reportedly unable to contact PTI-backed lawmakers Zahoor Qureshi, Usman Ali, and Mubarak Zaib on the day of the vote. Considering these development, PTI founder has ordered the expulsion notification of all absent lawmakers, The Express Tribune reported.
Earlier this week, Pakistan's Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will raise its concerns regarding the 2024 general elections and the 26th constitutional amendment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation, The Express Tribune reported.
Ayub said, "We will present the entire matter of the elections before the IMF delegation." He said, "We will also highlight the issues caused by the 26th amendment." PTI leader Omar Ayub made the remarks as a six-member IMF delegation reached the Pakistan Supreme Court to hold a meeting with Chief Justice Yahya Afridi.
Earlier in October, Imran Khan said that those who voted in favour of the controversial 26th constitutional amendment bill "betrayed" the nation. His remarks came after the National Assembly and Senate passed the bill with a two-thirds majority under which the term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan was set at three years, ARY News reported.
During the interaction with reporters and his lawyers in a makeshift courtroom inside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, former Pakistan PMImran Khan alleged that he was being treated worse than animals in jail.
"I want to clearly state that those who voted in favour of the 26th constitutional amendment betrayed Pakistan by destroying the very foundations of our Constitution," Imran Khan was quoted as saying in Adiala Jail in a post on X.
Khan said that he would stand firmly for the "genuine freedom" of Pakistan despite the attempts to break his spirit through "torture"
He stated, "I was tortured by being confined in a cage and treated worse than animals. This was an extremely vile act. Electricity to my cell was shut off for five days, leaving me in complete darkness. I was confined to the cell for ten days. For several weeks, any visits by family members, doctors, or lawyers were blocked. They want to break me through this torture and hardship, but I will stand firm for the genuine freedom of the Pakistani nation."
https://x.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1851523041697603669
Under the constitutional amendment, the term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been set at three years. A 12-member parliamentary committee will nominate the new Chief Justice of Pakistan from a panel of the three most senior judges, ARY News reported.
As per the report, the committee, comprising eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate, will propose the name to the Prime Minister, who will then forward it to the President for final approval.
A Judicial Commission of Pakistan, led by Chief Justice and including three senior judges, two members each from the National Assembly and Senate, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Law and Justice, the Attorney General, and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council, having not less than 15 years of practice in the Supreme Court, will be responsible for appointments of the judges of the Supreme Court.