Naqvi confirms resigning as PA opposition leader

Says PM yet to decide whether to accept or reject his resignation

As the news of Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi tendering a resignation circulated in the media, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader issued a clarification on Wednesday, stating that he had handed in his resignation and formally apologised for his remarks the very day he criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team.

Naqvi had lashed out at the PM and Federal Energy Minister Omar Ayub over the gas shortage in Karachi earlier this month.

Furthermore, sources in the PTI, who asked not to be named, have claimed that Naqvi had also criticised the PM for joining a meeting at the Governor House via video-link late a few weeks ago. This had irked many party members, who had complained about Naqvi's censure to the PTI leadership, the sources said, adding that the incident laid the foundation for the rift between the former and the latter.

In his statement on Wednesday, Naqvi said that he came across news of him stepping down from his post while visiting Sukkur with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and hence had issued the clarification.

Naqvi further stated that the party chairperson, the PM, had yet to decide whether he would accept the resignation.

"I am a party worker and the chairperson has my resignation. Now it is up to him," he said.

The PTI leader maintained that as elected representatives from Karachi, it was their responsibility to resolve the city's gas and electricity issues. "Karachiites have given us the mandate and now their issues pertaining to gas and electricity [shortages] should be resolved on priority basis. They have voted for us and we have to deliver," Naqvi stressed.

Meanwhile, sources in the PTI claimed that multiple party members, expecting the acceptance of Naqvi's resignation, had been eyeing his post and even begun lobbying for it.

According to them, MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh is a strong contender, despite some factions opposing his nomination, while PTI Karachi head MPA Khurram Sher Zaman had refused to take up the position if Naqvi stepped down.

If Sheikh is appointed, there are strong chances of MPA Jamaluddin Siddiqui replacing him as PTI's parliamentary leader in the provincial assembly, the sources said.

Following the reports of Naqvi's resignation, Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah tweeted on Wednesday, "As per reports, Firdous Shamim Naqvi has resigned. One more has come under fire for showing PM the mirror. It is only in the Pakistan Peoples Party that the party leadership takes criticism from party members and others sportingly. [On the other hand], the incumbent [PTI] government registers fake cases against those critical of it and sends them to jail."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2020.