45 PTI MNAs take back resignations

NA officials advise speaker not to accept request

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly officials have advised Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf not to accept the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's collective request to withdraw their resignations.

The NA speaker is holding consultations with the assembly officials regarding PTI’s request to withdraw the resignations of 45 of its lawmakers.

Various legal issues were discussed in the meeting with the NA officials.

According to sources, the constitutional and legal status of the requests received on emails and WhatsApp were reviewed in the meeting and the authorities advised the speaker not to accept the collective request.

According to legal experts, the application for refusing to resign must also be handwritten. According to parliamentary sources, the speaker is also considering accepting 30 more resignations of the PTI MNAs.

The speaker will approve the resignations on the advice of the NA officials.

Earlier in the day, 45 PTI lawmakers collectively withdrew their resignations from the NA on orders of party Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan.

PTI leader Asad Umar, while announcing the development on Twitter, said that the lawmakers sent emails in this regard to Speaker Ashraf.

The decision, he added, was taken after the speaker refused to accept all the resignations together. “The next step will be the nomination of the opposition leader,” Umar tweeted.

The lawmakers who decided to withdraw their resignations included Muhammad Riaz Khan, Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh, Shaheen Niaz, Nasarullah Dareshar, Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Nafeesa Inayat Khan, Malik Anwar, Saleh Mohammad, Jai Parkash, Tahir Sadiq, Niaz Ahmed, Raza Nasarullah, Javed Iqbal, Munaza Hasan, Lal Chand Malhi, Sajida Zulfiqar, Sardar Muhammad Khan, Uzma Riaz, Tashfeen Safadar, Jawad Hussain and Nausheen Hamid.

Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said that the decision was taken so that the party could take back the posts of the leader of the opposition and parliamentary party leader.

He added that the aim of the move was to get rid of the “fake” NA opposition leader and prevent “turncoats” from voting for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the vote of confidence.

After Umar’s announcement, PTI lawmakers staged a sit-in outside the NA speaker’s house, demanding that their requests be immediately accepted.

Later in the day, the lawmakers also held a meeting with the top brass of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in Islamabad.

Talking to reporters outside the electoral body office, PTI leader Amir Dogar said the party had provided the commission with a list carrying the names of 45 MNAs who had withdrawn their resignations.

“Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja personally received our application and we requested him that the ECP must play its constitutional role here,” he told the media.

Flanked by Riaz Fatyana and other leaders, Dogar said the PTI delegation told the commission to treat the party’s decision justly and in the light of the Constitution.