Under the leadership of PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the lawmakers collectively entered the National Assembly chanting "Go Nawaz Go" slogans and stationed outside National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s chamber.
The leaders refuse to adhere to the request of appearing individually and have been sitting outside Sadiq's chamber for over an hour now.
Qureshi has said that the speaker can verify resignations one by one but in presence of all others. Rumour has it, that the PTI leadership wants to avoid individual resignations over fears that the lawmakers might back out.
Speaking to Express News, PTI central information secretary Shireen Mazari said, "There is no possibility of us going individually to resign."
“NA speaker will have to come here, we will not go in individually,” she added.
However, while addressing the media, NA Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javaid Abbasi said, “We are trying to make them not resign. We hope the members respect the mandate of the people.”
“People haven’t voted them to disrupt the entire system,” Abbasi added.
Further, PTI chairman Imran Khan has said he would verify his resignation from atop his container tonight and has not appeared at the assembly despite being summoned.
In fact, only 25 MNAs have shown up. Those who are not in attendance include Saleemur Rehman, Qaiser Jamal, Shahryar Khan Afridi, Siraj Khan and PTI chairman Imran Khan.
It must be noted that three PTI MNAs people still haven’t resigned.
On August 22, 34 PTI MNAs, including Imran Khan, submitted their resignations to the NA speaker’s office as part of their campaign to ouster the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government.
Sadiq, on October 24, sent a final notice to PTI lawmakers to personally verify their resignations in his chamber.
A copy of the final notice sent to the media stated that the members may arrive at the office of the speaker collectively but verification of their resignations will be done individually.
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A disgruntled PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he and his party members waited for over two hours outside the speaker’s chamber, and will not come to the assembly anymore but will go to the public.
“We presented ourselves in front of the speaker for the verification of our resignations, but had to wait for over two hours for the speaker,” Qureshi said while speaking to the media outside the Parliament house.
Despite earlier reports of PTI members refusing to meet the speaker individually for the verification of the resignations, Qureshi said, “I told the deputy speaker if the speaker wishes to meet us individually, he should do so.”
“The deputy speaker asked us to keep waiting for the speaker,” he said. “We do not know why the speaker was refraining from meeting us.”
“This government has made a joke out of Parliament, and we will no longer come to the assembly. Instead we will go to the public,” he said.
Further, Qureshi said that the government had learned nothing and was making a joke out of democracy.
“Decisions are being made outside Parliament. It is no longer being used as a platform for debate,” he said.
He added that the government is doing politics of Changa Manga, adding that the government offered PTI members ministries.
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If PTI leaders do not have faith in their MNAs, how can it expect public to have faith in PTI. No wonder the credibility of PTI has been reduced to almost nil.
I guess what speaker need to do now is to ask all resignations to be verified by a personal signed letter addressed to him by resigning members and the letters should come to him through mail. That way, even if waderas in PTI force members to sign letters in front of them, members can always sent another letter in-private nullifying the contents of the previous one as being signed under duress.
“Decisions are being made outside Parliament. It is no longer being used as a platform for debate,” he said.” What a shame the feudal pir and professional political lota SMQ is criticizing the govt for not making decisions in the parliament. His party and their stubbornness have forced all other parties to join hands in the parliament but PTI is still badmouthing all institutions. Nobody is honorable; no institution is good if they are not in favor of PTI. For any job or personal matter people go by themselves not in a huge group as if there is a collective bargaining session going on. To find out the real story by one on one discussion with each NA member the speaker wants to get to the bottom of it. While not in power PTI has such dictatorial control over their elected NA members then what would they do if God forbid they come into power? Theirs is scorch earth policy even with their own elected leaders.
The government need not bend double on the resignation issue asking for personal confirmation from each of them. The best way is to issue a notification in leading newspapers publishing names of individuals whose resignations have been received and give a deadline for withdrawal of the same otherwise the same would deemed to be accepted after expiry of the said date. This is the only way to stop the blackmailing by PTI who is making un-constitutional demands and holding the country to ransom.
PTI leadership has no trust in their members. Even Imran has no guts to come to assembly and resign. So far he is reading a script and doing lip singing. He knows that he cannot bring that script in speaker's chamber. Why people elect these people who cannot perform their duties as elected members.