ECP summons dissident PTI lawmakers

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has summoned the dissident legislators of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a reference moved against them under Article 63A (1) (b) (i) of the Constitution.

The ECP summoned the lawmakers of the Punjab Assembly on May 6, while the legislators of the National Assembly have been asked to appear before the election watchdog on April 28.

The decision came during a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. Senior officials of the commission were also in attendance.

The summons comes days after Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi sent a reference to the commission against 26 dissident MPAs with a request to disqualify them for life over violating the party's discipline, showing disloyalty, and violating the norms of democracy.

The 26 dissident MPAs include Abdul Aleem Khan, Malik Numan Langrial, Nazir Ahmad Chohan, Raja Sagheer Ahmed, Malik Ghulam Rasool Sangha, Malik Saeed Akbar Khan, Muhammad Ajmal, Faisal Hayat, Mehar Muhammad Aslam, Mian Khalid Mehmood, Muhammad Amin Zulqarnain, Muhammad Salman, Zawar Hussain Warraich, Nazir Ahmed Khan, Fida Hussain, Zahra Batool, Muhammad Tahir, Aisha Nawaz, Sajida Yousaf, Haroon Imran Gill, Uzma Kardar, Malik Asad Ali, Ijaz Masih, Muhammad Sabtain Raza, Javeed Akhtar and Mohsin Atta Khan Khosa.

On April 16, Hamza Shehbaz was “elected” as the new chief minister of Punjab securing 197 votes amid chaos that erupted in the provincial assembly, but his rival candidate Elahi declared the polls “illegal”.

NA resignations
The meeting also considered the letter written by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to the ECP, according to which the party has quit the National Assembly en masse and currently has no representation in the house.

However, the ECP maintained that it has not received any notification regarding the resignations of the MNAs.

"As soon as the notification is received from the NA speaker, the commission will take action in accordance with the law," the meeting decided.

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Resignation controversy
On April 22, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf reiterated that the process pertaining to the mass resignations of PTI lawmakers would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The speaker said that the resignations had been de-sealed. For the resignations to be verified, however, he said he would have to meet the MNAs by calling them individually to his chamber to hold a one-on-one discussion.

Former deputy speaker Qasim Suri had accepted the en masse resignations tendered by the formerly ruling party MNAs and directed the NA Secretariat to issue a notification.

However, the newly appointed speaker Ashraf declared all the resignations unacceptable and decided to review the process afresh.

On April 14, the PTI released the NA Secretariat’s notification on social media declaring that 123 party MNAs “resigned from their seats by writing under their hand” to the speaker. Signed by NA Secretary

Tahir Hussain, it declared that after submission of the resignations their seats had become vacant in terms of Article 64(1) of the Constitution, with effect from April 11.

However, the NA Secretariat officials kept a hush on the matter and later revealed that as the entire episode was riddled with controversy, the new speaker’s prerogative on it would be taken as effective and legal.

The issue of PTI lawmakers wanting to take back their resignations surfaced after PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq revealed on the floor of the house that several PTI MNAs who called him to convey that their resignations should not be accepted as they were given under pressure.

Sadiq said that the verification afresh was crucial as the resignations that have so far been given were on cyclostyle papers when the rules state that they should be in the members’ own handwriting. Secondly, he said, individual verification has not taken place, which is an imperative part of the process.

Meanwhile, the NA Secretariat officials had confirmed that the resignations accepted by Suri were never sent to the ECP, saying the former deputy speaker was clearly told that the process that he had adopted to accept the resignations was not correct. However, they said, Suri proceeded ahead and accepted the resignations.