The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday expelled five of its National Assembly members, accusing them of defying party policy by voting in favor of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
An official notification issued by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan confirmed the termination of basic party membership for MNAs Aurangzeb Khan Khichi (NA-159, Vehari IV), Muhammad Ilyas Chaudhry (NA-62, Gujrat I), Mubarak Zeb, Usman Ali (NA-142, Sahiwal II), and Zahoor Hussain Qureshi (NA-146, Khanewal III).
PTI’s Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram also shared the termination notice on X, publicly confirming the disciplinary decision.
According to separate declarations issued to the lawmakers, PTI stated these MNAs had entered the National Assembly on PTI tickets in the February 8 general elections and had pledged loyalty to the party while taking their oaths on the opposition benches.
The party accused them of breaching this trust by siding with the treasury during the vote on the 26th Amendment last October.
The amendment, widely criticized by opposition parties as an attempt to undermine judicial independence, introduced key changes including setting a fixed three-year term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
It passed both the National Assembly and the Senate, and was later signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice, after securing parliamentary approval.
In particular, PTI condemned Aurangzeb Khichi for not only supporting the amendment but also for joining the PML-N parliamentary party and accepting the office of Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, making him “liable to disqualification as well.”
During the vote, PTI-backed independents Zahoor, Khichi, Usman Ali, and Mubarak Zeb supported the treasury’s motion, helping boost their numbers alongside PML-Q’s Chaudhry Ilyas. The ruling coalition, which held 211 seats, needed 224 votes in the NA but grew to 219 with support from the JUI-F and these PTI defectors, enabling the amendment’s passage.
