Contentious issue: Tehreek-i-Insaf meeting today to discuss resignations

Speaker has called the MPAs to meet him to verify their resignations.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary party will hold a meeting on Thursday (today) to discuss the issue of resignation of its MPAs (Provincial assembly Members) from the Punjab Assembly.

The PTI MPAs have been called by the Punjab Assembly speaker on November 7 for the verification of their resignations.

The meeting will be presided over by PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi. It will determine the party’s stance on the deadlock regarding the resignation.

Provincial information secretary Andleeb Abbas said that the agenda for the meeting of the parliamentary committee would include deliberations over how to pursue the matter further especially in light of the recent call by the speaker for verification of resignations.

“We have submitted our resignations. We will no longer be a part of the assembly. We want them to accept our resignations,” she said.

Abbas said that the government was employing delaying tactics regarding the issue of resignations. “The same tactic has been employed by the federal government for delaying the resignations of the PTI MNAs. They have made a mockery of the issue,” she said.

The parliamentary committee’s meeting will be attended by MPAs from the Punjab as well as core committee members.
The Punjab chapter of the party has decided that they will maintain their stance regarding the resignation of their MPAs and insist of en masse verification.

The PTI MPAs had resigned in August. The acceptance of the resignations has been pending owing to the refusal of the MPAs to meet the speaker individually for the verification of their resignations.

Leader of the opposition Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed has said that the resigning MPAs would go together for verification of resignations.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2014.