ISLAMABAD: After the speaker refused to accept the resignations of parliamentarians from Pakistan-Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), who resigned en masse in April following the change of guard in the prime minister’s office (PMO) in April, “without making sure” they were not tendered under any pressure, the opposition party said its legislators will visit the National Assembly on Wednesday to complete the process.
More than 120 MPs loyal to Imran Khan resigned on April 11, two days after he was removed from the PMO contentious vote of no-confidence marred by unprobed allegations of military support.
Former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Qasim Suri — who was performing his duties as acting speaker after then-incumbent Asad Qaiser’s resignation — accepted the resignation letters on April 15.
However, once Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart, was elected as the speaker, he decided to verify the resignations by interviewing lawmakers individually, but instead ended up stalling the entire process by blaming it on the lawmakers’ reluctance to step down.
“The law dictates that even if a member says in [speaker’s] presence they want to resign but I have information that they are under pressure [sic], I should not accept their resignation,” he said earlier this month.
Speaker @RPAPPP shall again invite PTI MNAs for verification of their resignation in pursuance of Paragraph(b)of Sub-Rule(2)of Rule 43 of Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business in NA, 2007.
NA Secretariat has written official letter to @SMQureshiPTI in response to his letter. pic.twitter.com/mhIEDqDekY
— National Assembly of 🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) December 22, 2022
On Sunday, Farrukh Habib, deputy information minister under Khan, confirmed lawmakers from his party will visit the National Assembly on Wednesday for the acceptance of their resignations as members of parliament.
“We are going to the National Assembly on Wednesday to get our resignations accepted,” he told the press in Faisalabad.
However, Geo News reported, citing sources, Khan has summoned party MPs to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad the same day to chalk out a strategy in this regard.
Fawad Chaudhry, senior vice president of the party, said the former prime minister had summoned the session, but would address it via a video link from his residence in the Zaman Park neighbourhood of Lahore.
During his talk, Habib also insisted that all MPs had submitted their resignations to the speaker in writing. “But they accepted just 11 resignations on the basis of mala fide [intentions],” he went on to say.
“Now accept our resignation. Why are they being evasive,” he asked.
He also remarked that this matter was also a “test for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)”.
