National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Sunday urged PTI lawmakers to return to parliament, saying he would not accept any of their resignations unless he was “satisfied” that they were not tendered under duress.
PTI leader Qasim Suri, in his capacity as the acting speaker on April 13, had accepted the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs, who had abided by their party chairman Imran Khan’s appeal after his removal from the office of the prime minister through a no-confidence motion earlier in the month.
However, on April 17, newly elected NA Speaker Ashraf had directed the assembly secretariat to deal with the resignations of the PTI lawmakers afresh and present them before him so that they could be treated as per law.
The ruling of the NA speaker came amid claims and speculations that some of the former ruling party lawmakers were willing to retract and had been conveying messages that their resignations should not be accepted.
Later in June, the ruling coalition had formulated a strategy on the matter of the en masse resignations of the PTI lawmakers from the NA and agreed to proceed with phase-wise acceptance.
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Parliamentary sources had disclosed that about 30 members of the former ruling party did not want to leave the legislature, adding that these lawmakers could directly reach out to the NA speaker to stop the acceptance of their resignations.
The Islamabad High Court too had termed the resignations of 123 PTI MNAs “suspicious” after it was informed that the parliamentarians were not called in a personal capacity before the NA speaker.
The PTI had then challenged the IHC’s judgement, which declared the acceptance of PTI lawmakers’ resignations as “unconstitutional”, in the Supreme Court.
However, the apex court had also seconded the high court’s advice to the PTI as it urged its lawmakers to rejoin the NA.
Speaking to journalists in Lahore on Sunday, the speaker said that there were rules and a due process in place for accepting resignations.
“The friends that had resigned and then on different occasions, be it television, media, or newspapers, stated that they had resigned, I accepted their resignations,” he added.
The speaker further said as per law, if a member approached him and said they had resigned but had information that they were being pressured to give the statement under duress, then he would not accept their resignation.
“However, the situation is completely different here. They [PTI MNAs] continue to remain in the [parliamentary] lodges […] they continue to take the perks of the secretariat and then they send messages saying ‘Mr Speaker, please do not accept my resignation’. Then under these circumstances, I have to consider a great deal,” he continued.
The speaker said he would not de-seat anyone unless he was satisfied that they were resigning out of their own free will.
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“In fact, now I hope for them to come and sit in parliament. They have the mandate of their respective constituencies and they should fulfill their duties of representation,” he added.
“If they want elections to be transparent then that is only possible if we make laws for that, […] if we build a strategy together with consensus,” he said, asking what forum would all the legislators gather in if they would not come to parliament.
For all matters concerning governance, Ashraf insisted the “best solution” to resolve matters was dependent on “the divide between opposition and government”.
Responding to questions, the speaker also said “premature dissolution of assemblies prevented democracy from taking root” and therefore it was important for legislatures to complete their terms.
He noted that for the past 15 years, the assemblies had completed their terms and stressed that “completing the tenure for the fourth straight time would strengthen the country's institutions”.
“The need of the hour is for all political parties to work together by building consensus to tend to matters,” he said, adding that this was not about an “individual’s victory or defeat”.
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