No show: Imran Khan skips resignation scrutiny

NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq says the PTI is trying to find excuses

ISLAMABAD:

As expected, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Monday did not appear before the National Assembly speaker for verification of his resignation from the lower house.

Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had invited PTI lawmakers in small groups to verify whether or not they had submitted their resignations voluntarily.

The process of verification began on September 25 and is expected to end on October 15. However, none of the PTI members has appeared before the speaker so far as the party demands that the speaker should invite all its lawmakers on the same day.

On August 22, some 31 members of the PTI had submitted their resignations in the speaker’s office as a protest against alleged rigging in the May 2013 general elections.

Up to 26 resignations were found valid while five of them – submitted by Mujahid Ali, Colonel (retd) Ameer Marwat, Saleemur Rehman, Junaid Akbar and Qaiser Jamal – were declared invalid as they were addressed to the PTI chairman – rather than the NA speaker.

Three PTI members, including Gulzar Khan from NA-4 Peshawar, Nasir Khattak from NA-15 Karak and Musarrat Ahmedzeb on women’s reserved seat, had not submitted their resignations. The only resignation accepted so far is that of the party’s former president Javed Hashmi.

Talking to media at the Parliament House, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the PTI was trying to find excuses to delay the issue of resignations.  “My doors are open to them, even if they want to coming holding each other’s hand,” he said.

Imran’s address

Addressing his supporters at D-Chowk, Imran Khan said local government elections would soon be held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), adding that it would be for the first time that people of villages would be empowered.

“We will also improve the sewerage system in the entire country. We will ask the youth to clean Pakistan and the government will clean rivers and plant new trees,” he added.

Talking about the recently held joint session of the parliament, he said no one had uttered a single word on the issues of the masses. He said there was no need for metro bus projects in Islamabad and the money could have been spent on welfare of the masses.

“Nawaz Sharif knows that the moment he resigns, his corruption will be exposed,” he said while calling into question the justification of the ongoing development projects.

Claiming that both Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had not disclosed their real assets, he said: “We will show you their declared assets [to the Election Commission of Pakistan] and the actual ones.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2014.