PTI’s resignations: Speaker involves ECP after high drama at parliament
PTI MPs insist on en masse verifications, speaker wants them to appear individually.
ISLAMABAD:
The resignations of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s federal lawmakers could not be verified on Wednesday as both National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PTI’s MNAs refused to budge on their respective stances.
The Parliament House saw a high drama as 25 PTI MPs, excluding party chairman Imran Khan, spent two-and-a-half hours in the Speaker’s Lounge, insisting that they should be allowed to verify their resignations en masse. Some 40 paces away, Speaker Sadiq kept on asking the lawmakers to verify their resignations individually.
The impasse prompted the speaker to refer the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to resolve the issue. “I had no option but to involve the ECP to resolve the issue,” he told reporters after the PTI lawmakers left.
Sadiq said he was initially hopeful that the matter would be resolved by Wednesday. “I received a letter from [PTI’s vice chairman] Shah Mehmood Qureshi wherein he wrote that ‘it will be up to to the [NA] speaker to decide if he wants to verify resignations individually or collectively,” he said. “Reading this, I was hopeful that the matter would be resolved.”
“But when the deputy speaker met the PTI lawmakers to ask them to appear before me one by one, he was told that I would have to present myself before them in the Speaker’s Lounge to verify their resignations en masse,” Sadiq added.
Earlier, upon reaching the Parliament House with other PTI MNAs, Qureshi said that while the speaker could verify their resignations individually, he would have to do so in the presence of other lawmakers of the party. Rumour has it that the PTI leadership is afraid that some of its lawmakers may take back their resignations if allowed to verify individually.
While leaving the Parliament House, Qureshi reiterated the statement. “I told the deputy speaker if the speaker wishes to meet us individually, he should do so.”
He accused the government of resorting to the ‘old tactics of horse-trading’ in a bid to dissuade the PTI MNAs from quitting. “The government has not learnt any lesson and offered our members money and ministries,” he alleged.
Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javaid Abbasi told reporters that they were trying to make the PTI lawmakers take back their resignations. “We hope they [PTI MNAs] will respect the mandate of the people… People did not vote for them so they could disrupt the entire system.”
Referring matter to ECP
Talking to The Express Tribune, ECP officials said referring the matter of PTI MNAs’ resignations to the commission would be like ‘sending a letter to a wrong address’. According to them, accepting or rejecting resignations of any member is the sole domain of the speaker of the respective assembly.
“Even if the speaker forwards the matter to the ECP, the commission will likely write back to the assembly saying it should deal with the matter itself,” an ECP official said. “Our role starts once we get a copy of notification from the speaker’s office that a particular seat has fallen vacant. We announce and organise polls on vacant seats.”
The official added that the speaker was not obliged to inform the ECP, even in case he or she rejected a member’s resignation.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2014.
The resignations of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s federal lawmakers could not be verified on Wednesday as both National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PTI’s MNAs refused to budge on their respective stances.
The Parliament House saw a high drama as 25 PTI MPs, excluding party chairman Imran Khan, spent two-and-a-half hours in the Speaker’s Lounge, insisting that they should be allowed to verify their resignations en masse. Some 40 paces away, Speaker Sadiq kept on asking the lawmakers to verify their resignations individually.
The impasse prompted the speaker to refer the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to resolve the issue. “I had no option but to involve the ECP to resolve the issue,” he told reporters after the PTI lawmakers left.
Sadiq said he was initially hopeful that the matter would be resolved by Wednesday. “I received a letter from [PTI’s vice chairman] Shah Mehmood Qureshi wherein he wrote that ‘it will be up to to the [NA] speaker to decide if he wants to verify resignations individually or collectively,” he said. “Reading this, I was hopeful that the matter would be resolved.”
“But when the deputy speaker met the PTI lawmakers to ask them to appear before me one by one, he was told that I would have to present myself before them in the Speaker’s Lounge to verify their resignations en masse,” Sadiq added.
Earlier, upon reaching the Parliament House with other PTI MNAs, Qureshi said that while the speaker could verify their resignations individually, he would have to do so in the presence of other lawmakers of the party. Rumour has it that the PTI leadership is afraid that some of its lawmakers may take back their resignations if allowed to verify individually.
While leaving the Parliament House, Qureshi reiterated the statement. “I told the deputy speaker if the speaker wishes to meet us individually, he should do so.”
He accused the government of resorting to the ‘old tactics of horse-trading’ in a bid to dissuade the PTI MNAs from quitting. “The government has not learnt any lesson and offered our members money and ministries,” he alleged.
Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javaid Abbasi told reporters that they were trying to make the PTI lawmakers take back their resignations. “We hope they [PTI MNAs] will respect the mandate of the people… People did not vote for them so they could disrupt the entire system.”
Referring matter to ECP
Talking to The Express Tribune, ECP officials said referring the matter of PTI MNAs’ resignations to the commission would be like ‘sending a letter to a wrong address’. According to them, accepting or rejecting resignations of any member is the sole domain of the speaker of the respective assembly.
“Even if the speaker forwards the matter to the ECP, the commission will likely write back to the assembly saying it should deal with the matter itself,” an ECP official said. “Our role starts once we get a copy of notification from the speaker’s office that a particular seat has fallen vacant. We announce and organise polls on vacant seats.”
The official added that the speaker was not obliged to inform the ECP, even in case he or she rejected a member’s resignation.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2014.