ISLAMABAD: Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will verify the resignations of PTI MNAs. About 123 resignations of PTI MNAs have been received by the NA Secretariat.
Following process, NA Speaker will call MNAs individually and in small groups to verify their resignations.
A majority of the resignations submitted by the PTI MNAs were not handwritten and had a similar text printed on the PTI’s letterhead. They said the secretariat staff also had doubts over the signatures of some members as these were not matching with those on the assembly’s roll.
At least 25 PTI MNAs had separately written to Mr Ashraf, requesting for an appointment so that they could explain the circumstances under which they had to submit the resignations, sources said.
The decision to resign en mass from the assembly had been taken at the PTI’s parliamentary party meeting, chaired by Imran Khan, and it was announced by PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the floor of the assembly just minutes before PM’s election on April 11.
Former deputy speaker Qasim Suri, who was then functioning as the acting speaker, immediately accepted the resignations and directed the NA Secretariat to issue a notification. On April 14, the PTI had through social media released the NA Secretariat’s notification declaring that 123 party MNAs “resigned from their seats by writing under their hand” to the speaker. The notification, signed by NA Secretary Tahir Hussain, had declared that after submission of the resignations their seats had become vacant in terms of Article 64(1) of the Constitution, with effect from April 11.
