NA speaker to quiz PTI lawmakers

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has writte­n letter­s to PTI lawmak­ers to verify their signat­ures on resign­ation letter­s

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has summoned three top lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on September 25 to confirm their resignations.

The three MNAs – Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Ali Muhammad Khan – have been asked to appear in the speaker’s chamber at 11am on Thursday, according to a press statement issued by the National Assembly’s media office late Monday evening. Another three PTI lawmakers, Dr Arif Alvi, Dr Shereen Mazari and Manaza Hassan, have also been asked to appear the next day (Friday).

The PTI lawmakers had submitted their resignations en masse on August 22 on the instructions of their party chairman, Imran Khan. The resignations are pending with the speaker’s office. Under the rules the speaker has to reconfirm from every member before accepting her/his resignation.

According to Monday’s statement, the speaker has written letters to all those who had submitted their resignations. They will be called in the alphabetical order to reconfirm their resignations. Five of them have been informed that since they have addressed their resignations to their party chief, they are not valid, it added.

The party’s sacked president, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, had also submitted his resignation along with fellow party lawmakers. And his resignation was accepted earlier this month on his request following his address at the recently concluded joint session of parliament. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2014.