Pakistan

NA speaker requests Altaf to withdraw motion to de-seat PTI MNAs

MQM chief assured him he would consider discussing request with party members

Web Desk August 05, 2015

A file photo of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. PHOTO: ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq requested on Wednesday Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain to withdraw his party’s motion to de-seat Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians.

Sadiq spoke to Altaf via a telephonic call for about 10 minutes, after which the MQM chief assured he would consider discussing his request with party members, according to Express News.

The MQM and Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema Islam are at the forefront of the movement against the PTI, seeking to de-seat the party’s lawmakers for remaining absent from the lower house for more than 40 days.

On Monday, in a rare show of unity, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz blocked a move to unseat the 33 federal lawmakers of PTI.

In a recent meeting with parliamentary parties, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made it clear that “we want to see the PTI in Parliament”. He requested the MQM to withdraw its motion against the PTI so that the matter could not become a record of Parliament.

Read: ‘Will lead re-election campaign myself if we are deseated from NA’

However, PTI chairman Imran Khan said he would lead the party’s re-election campaign himself if PTI members are de-seated from the National Assembly.

“I will recommend my party not to return to the assemblies,” he said while addressing the media after a party meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday. “I want to make it clear, accept our resignations and I will lead the party’s election campaign myself.”

COMMENTS (4)

S.R.H. Hashmi | 8 years ago | Reply What a joke the majority Parliamentarians in the National Assembly have made of the institution can be judged by the fact that the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has requested Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain to withdraw his party’s motion to de-seat Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians. If the Assembly affairs were conducted according to the laid down rules and regulations, there would have been no need for the MQM to present motion seeking de-seating of PTI parliamentarians because by proudly walking out of the National Assembly, calling it all sorts of names, submitting resignations from the Assembly, remaining absent from it for much more than forty days, and by objecting to why their resignations were not being accepted, PTI members have amply demonstrated both by their words and deeds that their resignations were neither forced nor signed when they were, perhaps temporarily, not in full control of their faculties. In these circumstances, if the Speaker had some regard for the rules and regulations, the only course open to him was to accept the resignations. And here he is, not only committing something illegal but also pressuring MQM to join as an accomplice in this grave violation of rules. As it is, in addition to votes from the loyal opposition, PML-N has enough votes in the Assembly to defeat the de-seating motion but of course PML-N wants all the assembly members to join its hands in its illegal move to let the PTI ex-members into the Assembly again. During Ayaz Sadiq’s ten minute conversation with Altaf Hussain, the MQM chief was reported to have assured the Speaker that he would consider discussing his request with party members. This itself is odd. On one hand, Altaf Hussain is being declared enemy of the state and resolutions against him are being presented, and passed, in various assemblies and at the same time, the Speaker of the National Assembly is seeking assistance from Altaf Hussain. This shows that apart from not having regard for the rules and regulations of the institution that he is supposed to be custodian of, the Speaker doesn’t mind even seeking help from an ‘enemy’ of Pakistan. I hope Altaf Hussain and MQM stick to their principled stand on the issue and refuse to become part of this shameful and illegal deal. Of course, PTI members can return to the National Assembly through re-election which is the only honourable course for them. Karachi

Naeem Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Does Altaf Hussain runs this country, it seems like it. He has been spewing venom against Pakistan for years specially in India and threatening the integrity of the country, yet the speaker of the NA has the audacity to give any weight to this thug who is responsible for killings and black mailing the trader community in Karachi. Should we remind the speaker that the ATC has just issued an arrest warrant for him. PTI has resigned from the NA voluntarily and their resignation should be accepted if that’s what PTI leadership has decided. By the way a vote should be taken by the rest of the assembly to relieve the PTI members from the assembly if that is what the majority would want to do. Yesterday the Rangers has demanded MQM to hand over more then 170 murderers and criminals, the party is full of criminals as it seems to the public and the intelligence services. And yet our important people in the government toadies to this party and specially to this thug Altaf Hussain who has created havoc in Karachi. It is common knowledge that some of MQM members want to create a separate country carved out of Pakistan. It is a sad situation. If the ruling class will ignore Altaf Hussain, he will become irrelevant in the internal and external affairs of Pakistan. It is time that he becomes irrelevant.

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